Michiru's Memoir
by tiffanywillow
Summary: This is Michiru writing after her battle with Sailor Galaxia. After dying twice, she decided to write her story down. She reflected on her past and her journey since the beginning.
1. The Beginning

My name is Kaioh Michiru. Most people in the world know me as a musician or as a painter. However, I am also a Sailor Senshi, Sailor Neptune. This is my memoir.

* * *

Chapter 1: The Beginning

On March 6, a star was born. My parents were happy to have a baby girl. I was loved and protected by them. They gave me everything, including my very first violin. The story they liked to tell relatives was that one day I climbed onto a shelf and played with my mother's violin. I plucked the strings and started making little rhythms. My mom came out of the kitchen, just in time to see me fall from the shelf. I landed on my back while I was still cradling the violin. So on my third birthday, my parents got me my very first violin. I guess I could say it was love at first sight, my violin and me.

My second love happened when I was five. My dad forbade me from ever going into his art studio. He spent hours behind those closed doors, painting and creating. One day he forgot to lock the doors and I bravely entered the room, knowing that I could get into a lot of trouble. As I stepped into the room, I felt like entering another world. Five huge canvases hung on the easels, still glistening with wet paint. My heart pounded, as I stared at the panoramic war scene painted by my dad. It was violent, it was bloody, yet it was beautiful. I could feel the souls leaving the dead soldiers, ascending to the unknown. There was one figure that remained, standing, amidst the ruins. She had her back turned and her head hung in sorrow. I couldn't tear my eyes away. I stayed in that room for hours, just staring at the paintings, until I heard my dad breathing behind me. Half expecting a severe punishment from my dad, I turned gingerly, while staring at the floor. There was an unbearable silence, then a sigh from my dad. He picked me up and gave me a gentle squeeze. He said, "Michiru, I am sorry you saw this. I wanted you to think the world as a beautiful and peaceful place, at least for another couple years."

While I was haunted by that painting, I was intrigued. I did not imagine that a few paintbrushes and some paint could transform an empty canvas into something so beautiful. After that incident, my dad let me go into the art studio whenever I want. He even let me paint some flowers and butterflies into the war scene. He said, "That last soldier is lonely. She lost all of her friends in the battle." So I gave her butterflies so that she would not be lonely. I gave her flowers so that she would know that the world is still beautiful.

All in all, my childhood was pretty normal. I was a good student. Most of my time were consumed by violin lessons and painting lessons. By that time, my parents were slightly famous and I was named the "music prodigy" by the newspaper. There was an old newspaper clipping, showing my mom and I playing the violin while my dad was playing the piano. Because I was so different, I didn't have any friends at school. Over time, I convinced myself that I didn't need people and I was above everyone else. It was better to be alone.

Then everything changed when I was 14.


	2. The Discovery

Chapter 2—the Discovery

If anyone ever asks me, which year of your life you would like to do over, I would definitely choose the year I turned 14.

At the age of 14, I have already passed all of my violin examinations with flying colors. With high praises from the music community and encouragements from my violin teacher, I started performing in various events. Over the years, I have always enjoyed the adrenaline rush that came with performing. That exhilaration of performing in front of a crowd, touching their hearts with my music and basking in their applauses, it had become addictive. I vowed to become a violinist. No, I vowed to become the best violinist and I would bring my music to everyone.

I still remembered that night when I performed at the Nakano Sun Plaza. The concert hall holds 2000 seats. It was my first time to debut my own compositions. All the years of practicing, all the sacrifices I had made, it was all for this moment. I peeked out from behind the curtain. The orchestra was already in place and the conductor was doing his usual last minute meditation. He had his eyes closed and his hands floated in midair. It looked like he was conducting an invisible band. I guess different musicians had their different ways of preparing. I closed my eyes to prepare myself. This was the routine I do every time before performing. I conjured up an image of a calm ocean. I smiled as I listened to the gentle waves. Then, all of a sudden, the gentle waves turned violent. The ocean, once blue, was now red with blood. Storm clouds rolled in, and the sky turned dark. "What?" I opened my eyes, shocked at the image that flashed through.

That was the first time I had a vision. I did not have time to process what I saw, as I was distracted by the applause and the parting of the curtains. I smiled, thinking to myself, it must have been stress. The vision was forgotten as the first note was played.

That night was a huge success. After the concert, my parents hosted an extravagant party in my honor. Much to my dismay, they even invited some of my classmates.

"Don't be rude, Michiru. Go say hi to your peers." Mom gave me an encouraging smile and pushed me towards the crowd. I walked slowly towards the pack of wolves. These girls were vicious at school and they hated me just as much as I hated them. "Just smile, say your hellos and then you can run away," I told myself.

"Oh, it's the almighty music prodigy. I am so HONORED to have experienced your music." Hina sneered. I looked her in the eye and imagined she was being ripped apart by some monsters. I could say something mean. I know her weaknesses.

"Hina, stop it." A tall dark figure appeared behind Hina. She was about six feet tall and she was wearing an expensive suit. I looked at her, intrigued. I have never seen her before and she was definitely not like these shallow girls.

"HI, I am Alex. I am Hina's cousin."

I shifted my eyes quickly, as I realized I was staring. "Hi, my name is Michiru". My heart was pounding fast and I was sure my face was as red as a tomato. "Why am I so nervous…."I thought.

Then I caught Hina's eyes. She looked like she was ready to kill me. She pulled Alex roughly to the side and started yelling at her. I couldn't make out what they were saying. "What a weirdo. Why is she so mad at her cousin?" I thought.

I found out a week later that they were not cousins after all. Alex broke up with Hina that night. Much to my surprise, Alex contacted me a week later. She said I was interesting and she wanted to get to know me better. We started hanging out after school and had long telephone conversations at night. She even introduced me to the world of Muay Thai. I was wrapped up completely in the whirlwind of Alex. My usual cool exterior melted away and I was reduced to a helpless kitten whenever I was around her.

One thing led to another and Alex became my first girlfriend. I fell in love with her. She was gentle, kind and strong. I had always known I was interested only in women. I was unapologetically gay, despite my girly appearances. However, now that I had a girlfriend, I started to wonder about my parents' reactions toward such news. For a society that emphasized on conformity, what would the world say about a gay violin prodigy? Luckily, Alex was closeted herself and she understood perfectly. We kept our relationship a secret for almost two months.

Then one night, my world shattered into a million pieces.


	3. The Awakening

Chapter 3-The Awakening

I looked back at that fateful night a lot. Sept 09. If I had known, there would be a million things I would have done differently. I would have said all the things I wanted to say. To my parents, to Alex, I would have told them I loved them.

Alex and I were in a relationship for about two months. She had enjoyed coming over to my house and she would just sit silently in the art studio, watching me paint. I had always wondered, if it was boring for her. She assured me that she was fine, and that it was mesmerizing to watch me create art. The art studio quickly became our date spot. Whenever my parents were out of town, I would invite her over.

One day, my mom got invited to perform on a cruise. They received two tickets and dad was going as mom's arm candy. It was sweet to watch them pick out each others outfits and packing them in their suitcases. Dad picked out a pink dress for mom. He held it up, looked at it, and teasingly said to mom, "Do you think you can still fit in this?" My mom plucked a suit out of the closet and said to dad, "Do you think YOU can still fit in this?" They both laughed, while making gestures around their waists. That was the last time I heard them laugh.

"Michiru, the cruise leaves at six. We are going early so that I can rehearse a couple times with the orchestra. We will be back in three days."

"Okay, mother." I rolled my eyes. I was anxious for them to leave so that I could have three uninterrupted days with Alex. I wished mom good luck on her performance and I gave each of them a kiss and a hug.

As soon as they left, I called Alex. "Coast is clear, come over."

 _Ding dong._

I opened the door and I gasped. Then I doubled over in laughter. Alex was wearing a hard hat, a white tank top and a pair of ripped jeans. She was also carrying a basket of toy power tools.

"What? Remember your promise? " Alex pulled me toward her and gently kissed my forehead. "You said you would paint me and I could choose my costume."

I wiped away a few tears and I tried to catch my breath. I pointed at the ridiculous "power tools" before I burst into another bouts of uncontrollable laughter.

Alex grabbed my hand and spun me around. "I am a sexy construction worker. If the typhoon hits, I could help you board up the windows." She leaned closer and kissed me softly on my lips. I closed my eyes and I wrapped my arms around her.

I heard the front door open. Before I could react and pull away from Alex, mom entered the house. "Michiru, your dad forgot his medicine. Have you seen…." Mom stopped mid sentence, as she registered what she was witnessing.

"Michiru! What is this?"

"Mom, I am….not straight. This is Alex, she is my girlfriend."

"Stop, Michiru. I don't want to hear this. I….I can't deal with this right now. I am glad your dad is in the taxi right now. He doesn't need to see this. You have shamed this family."

I had always suspected that that would be my mom's reaction. I just didn't expect it to hurt so much, hearing those words from her. I clenched my fists and squeezed my eyes shut.

 _Bam._ I heard the door slammed shut. Mom had left. I watched as she got into the taxi. Dad waved from the taxi but mom pulled his hand down. Puzzled, dad looked at me. He probably couldn't see the tears on my face, but I liked to think that he felt my pain just then.

Alex approached me, delicately. She could see that I was trying to stop crying and having a complete breakdown. "Michiru, is there anything I can do?" She asked. I held out my hands, prevented her from embracing me. I knew I wouldn't be able to stop if she hugged me.

I turned and ran out the front door. It had started to rain. In seconds, I was soaked from top to bottom. I didn't care. I kept running until I couldn't anymore. I could hear Alex running behind me. Usually she was the faster runner, but I knew she held back so that I could have my moments alone. She stayed a few feet behind me after I stopped.

We stood there for a while. The street was eerily quiet, except the thundering roar of the rain and wind. People must have found refuge from the storm. It was just Alex and I.

I didn't turn to stare at Alex. I looked out into the ocean instead. It was stormy and the waves ebbed and flowed. The ocean always soothed me. Just then an idea hit me. If my parents couldn't accept me for who I am, we could simply leave. As long as I have Alex, I would be fine.

"Alex, do you want to run away with me? Let's just go somewhere where no one knows us. I could be a street artist, or a street musician. What do you think?" I said as I turned to look at Alex.

Alex was still standing in the same spot, except she was glowing and levitating. She had her back arched and her face was blank. Her kind eyes were gone. Instead, red glowing eyes were looking back at me. Finally she let out a piercing scream as her body exploded.

"NOOOOOO."

I closed my eyes. This must be a dream, I thought. I wanted to wake up.

It was then I sensed the evil. I forced my eyes open. Instead of seeing Alex's body, I saw a monster.

The monster bared its teeth and extended its hands. Instead of fingers, it had power drills. The monster started charging at me while yelling "Cobra punch! Cobra punch! Cobra punch!"

Oh God. It knew Alex's muay thai moves. If it had retained Alex's fighting skills, my chance of survival would be zero. I started running. My self-preservation instinct kicked in and I was running faster than I had ever run before.

I ran…until there was nowhere to run. The seemingly random cobra punches had successfully herded me into a corner in an alleyway. The monster slowed its pace and walked deliberately toward me. It knew. This would be the end of me. It licked its lips slowly with its blue tongue. It was anticipating the kill and savoring the moment.

"COBRA PUNCH!" The monster leapt into the air and was ready to throw its final blow.

Just then, a blinding light appeared in front of me. The light must have blinded the monster. It stepped backwards while rubbing its eyes, groaning in pain.

There was a blue wand floating midair, blinking with the same blinding light. I reached for it. I wasn't sure why I grabbed it. It felt like it was mine and the moment I grabbed it, memories of my past life flood back. Time stood still as I started to remember. I stood dazed until I heard a low growl from the monster.

It glared at me with its eerie red eyes. Hurt and frustrated by the light, it was ready to try to kill me again.

I raised the wand and yelled "Neptune Planet Power Makeup". A beautiful aqua light flashed and the ocean surged to wrap me in a tight cocoon. I felt power surging through me. I was no longer Michiru. I was Sailor Neptune.


	4. The Despair

Chapter 4—The Despair

The moment I transformed, I knew that I had to kill Alex/the monster. If only the princess was here. She was the only one that could restore anyone back to normal. I had no choice. Even if there was a glimmer of hope that the monster could transform back to Alex, it was all lost the moment I attacked. "Deep Submerge." _Whoosh._ The powerful ocean came to my aid and the monster cried out as it died.

I collapsed to the ground, heaving and throwing up. Then the floodgate of tears opened. Overcame with grief, I yelled and screamed until there was no strength left. The ocean seemed to have felt my pain and it too was crying. Tall waves slammed down, bent on destruction. I yelled "Deep submerge" again so that the ocean could come to my side. It felt safe like a hug. I kept throwing my attacks out into the open sea. I did it until my energy is drained and I de-transformed.

Slowly, I walked back to the house. The rain had finally stopped. The sea returned to normal. I felt numb.

The phone was ringing when I entered. I let it rang. I slumped down on the couch and curled up like a fetus. The phone rang again. And again. Finally, I picked up.

"Hello. Is this Kaioh Michiru?"

"Yes."

"I am so sorry to tell you this but your parents' cruise sank. There was a freak storm and it came out of nowhere. A lot of people went missing, including your parents. The rescue mission is still ongoing, so there is still hope."

 _Thud!_ I dropped the phone and raced out of the house. "Mommy, daddy, please be okay. Please be okay." I thought over and over in my head as I ran. "I can't lose you now. Please. Please oh god, let them live." What have I done to be punished this way?

It was easy to find the spot where they sank. Ambulances and fire trucks lined up along the shore. Helicopters were flying overhead, searching for survivors. Families gathered around the bulletin board, grasping desperately at hope.

It was then when I connected the dots. I was fighting the monster close to here, on the other side of the shoreline. It was my grief and my anger. The sea responded to my emotional turmoil and it too grieved.

By morning, the rescuers called it off. There were no survivors. I killed my parents. I killed everyone.

I called my mom's manager. She was sobbing and screaming on the other side of the phone. I was strangely calm. I told her what happened emotionless. It was like Michiru vacated the body and now it was a shell walking around. Maybe Michiru floated to the heavens, where she was reunited with all the people she loved.

For the next two weeks, it was all a blur. I barely left the house. My parents' friends came over and they brought me food. I left them on the counter and watched the mold grew. The lawyers came and gave me the will. My mother was always the prepared one. She left me enough money for college and I should be fine until I graduate. As the lawyers were leaving, I told them I wanted to sell the house. I shut the door on them before they could ask any questions, or before they could stare at me with those sympathetic eyes.

On the day of my parents' funeral, I hit rock bottom.

A lot of people came to the funeral, including my parents' friends, some fans, and a few reporters. Their death made the news. I was initially asked to play a song at the funeral but I declined. Ever since their death, I had stopped painting and playing. The music room and the art studio were locked a week after their deaths. Trapped inside were my dad's paintings and my mom's music sheets. Sometimes I peeked inside, hoping to get a glimpse of them. Then it hurt too much so I stopped doing that. When I locked those doors, I have also locked away my feelings. My emotions, while painful, were also destructive. I was grieving Alex and I let my emotions run wild. My emotions killed my parents and everyone on that cruise. It was my hands that pushed that wave and drowned everyone.

After the funeral, the caskets were loaded into a hearse and it was ready for transport to the crematorium. Storm clouds started rolling in and the wind started to howl. I always thought that howl sounded like a cry.

It was at that exact moment, as the rain started to fall heavily, that I saw the premonition.


	5. The Premonition

Chapter 5-The Premonition

"The silence is approaching." I heard the premonition before I saw it.

Something exploded from afar. A red light shot straight up to the sky. It started to expand and the blast radiated out. As the blast expanded, everything it touched turned to ashes. The sky was a fiery red. The air smelt of fire and smoke at first, then burnt meat. People were fleeing and the cacophony of their screaming was unbearable. I watched in horror as the people burn and disintegrate. The heat was agonizing and I could feel my skins starting to burn…

Then I was back at the funeral. My heart was pounding, adrenaline all pumped up. It felt so real. What the hell was that? Was this what grief and guilt felt like?

"Kaioh -chan. We need to go now." The funeral director gently led me to the car. For the rest of the way to the crematorium, I remained silent. No sobbing. No emotions. I just stared out the window, still thinking about what I just saw.

After the cremation, I went home alone. My parents' friends offered to stay with me for the night. They had been so nice to me but I just couldn't deal with them right now.

It was getting dark. The house felt emptier than usual, even though it had always been empty since their deaths. The funeral changed everything. It was the final chapter of their lives. Exhausted, I slumped down on the floor, and then I wept.

I went upstairs and curled into my parents' bed. It still smelt faintly of mom's perfume. I hugged her pillow and fell into a deep sleep. It had been a while since I properly slept. My body finally decided to shut down, forcing me to rest. Thankfully, the rest of the night was uneventful. I did not dream of Alex dying. I did not dream of my parents dying. I did not dream of the people I killed coming back to haunt me…

The premonition did not come back until a week after the funeral. At first, it was infrequent. It would pop up randomly, unpredictable. Then it became a daily event. Each time was the same agonizing fear and terror, but more details were added. I started seeing another figure. She had long hair and she was holding a staff. She was telling me something but I couldn't hear her. Another time when the premonition hit, I saw the outline of five sailor soldiers. The frequency and intensity of the premonition kept increasing. I was beginning to lose it. I didn't remember the last time I ate something proper. I didn't remember the last time I slept through the night. I wondered, what would happen if I transform into Sailor Neptune and somehow use the attack on myself. I wondered if I could have some peace after that…

Life had a funny way of working out. Just when I was ready to step over the edge, hope was offered to me in the premonition. That was the first time I saw her. She had short blonde hair and she was incredibly handsome. I was slightly taken aback at seeing something so beautiful in the middle of hell. She came up to me, grabbed my hand and started to run. "Neptune, we have to keep fighting. We have to find the talismans and save the world." The beautiful stranger said to me.


	6. The Search

Chapter 6-The Search

As soon as I woke, I went and unlock the art studio. I started to paint in a frenzy. The need to get the premonition on the canvas was overwhelming. For a while now, I was lost in a fog. No purpose and no drive, I drifted through life like a ghost. As the premonition got stronger, I could feel the sailor senshi inside me reawakening. I saw hope through an apocalyptic premonition. Also, who was that beautiful stranger? When I gazed into her eyes, I had a strange sense of calm. I knew the battle ahead would be brutal, but somehow I knew it would be okay.

When I was done, I put down my paintbrush and stared at the canvas. Besides the ruin and the agony, the beautiful stranger was there, like an anchor in a stormy sea. I drew her face in detail, in fear of not seeing her again in the premonition. I wanted to remember her. I needed to find her. That would be my mission.

I decided to start searching for her by going through the school yearbooks at the local library. Since I had stopped going back to my school ever since that night, I had plenty of time to kill. Also, I didn't need to go back to my own school. If she was a student there, I would have known. There was no way I could forget someone like her. Also, I got a sense that she was on my team (not in the sailor senshi sense) and I could search for her at the local gay bars. How big could the gay community be anyway?

The premonition continued to torture me every night. Sometimes the beautiful stranger would show up. Sometimes I would see the five sailor soldiers burnt to ashes. I thought I would get used to the brutal images by now but it only increased my dread every night.

I managed to gather some information from all the premonitions. By painting the scenes over and over, I was able to figure out the mission. Little details were added each time and the paintings served as a guiding journal. This was what I had learned so far. The world was about to end unless we fought back, somehow. The tall girl with the staff forwarned that we must gather all the talisman and we had to find the messiah. She was the key to stopping the silence.

One night, fate intervene again and I met a girl named Elsa Gray. I was strolling down the streets of Shinjuku Ni-chome, the biggest gay district in Tokyo, when I heard a scream from one of the alleys. My senses picked up a massive amount of dark energy. I quickly duck behind one of the buildings and transformed.

As I approached the alley, I saw a giant monster towering over an unconscious girl. It was twice as tall as me, with a face of a wolf and the body of a gorilla. It wore an armor and it had a long wide sword by its side.

"Deep Submerge". I went straight into fight mode. I felt that same surge of power going through me and it felt good.

The monster waved its sword and easily deflected the attacked.

"What?" I stared in disbelief.

The monster howled as it lifted the heavy sword, swinging directly at me. I dodged to the right but the tip of the sword cut my left arm. Excruciating pain radiated through my body. Blood started gashing out from the wound.

The monster let out a throaty laugh. It seemed to have been pleased by the sight of my pain. I felt anger rising inside of me. Whoever was behind creating these monsters, they also turned Alex into one. It created a ripple effect, which led me to accidentally killing my parents. I grit my teeth and I stood up. I would not be defeated by this.

I called to the sea, asking for its divine protection. I recalled all my pain and fury, I let it fester and grow inside of me. "DEEP SUBMERGE" I yelled and put all my strength behind the attack. The monster tried to deflect again but it was useless. My sea answered my prayer and it disintegrated the monster.

I de-transformed and ran to the girl. She was started to wake up. Groggily, she stared at me in confusion. I quickly explained that I saw a big wild dog attacking her and I chased it away by throwing stuff at it.

"Thank you for saving my life. My name is Elsa Gray."

I walked her home, as she could barely stand. She saw my wound and insisted that I came in so that she could tend to my wound. Little did I know, saving Elsa Gray would lead me straight to the person I had been searching for so long. I learned that night that her name was Tenou Haruka.


	7. Tenou Haruka

***The conversations between Michiru and Haruka were taken directly from the episode "The Bond of Destiny-Uranus's Distant Past". ***

Chapter 7 – Tenou Haruka

"Come in. I need to clean and bandage that wound. It is the least I can do, considering that you just saved my life." Elsa Gray said as she led me into her apartment. The house was dark. Elsa gestured me to be quiet, and I followed her through a long hallway before we reached her room.

"Sorry, my parents were sleeping. Plus they didn't know I snuck out." Elsa explained after she closed her bedroom door. "Wait here, I am going to get the stuff from the bathroom cabinet."

I stood uncomfortably in the middle of the room, as I watched blood dripping from my arm onto the mat. I quickly looked around the room for something to wrap my arms in. Then I saw her. That beautiful stranger. Her face was plastered on a poster, sitting on top of Elsa's desk.

I found her. Her name was Tenou Haruka. It said on the poster that she was the youngest and the best car racer in Japan. She was staring coldly into the camera, slightly annoyed perhaps. I wondered if she knew she was a soldier yet.

Elsa tapped me on my shoulder. I turned and I saw her mischievous face. "Michiru, do you like what you see?"

"Who is she?" I blushed and asked Elsa.

"She is my cutest rival yet. She is the top car racer in the country AND the fastest runner in the district. I heard she is unbeatable. I am racing against her next week and I will beat her record." Elsa traced her finger around Haruka's face on the poster. "She sure is attractive. But she is not my type. Do YOU want to come to my meet next week?"

"Sure!" I answered too quickly. Elsa winked at me and gladly declared herself as our matchmaker.

I waited anxiously for the entire week. Premonitions were still happening every night and every night, I would look forward to the part of seeing Haruka in it.

One night, I felt a connection to her in the premonition. I sensed her as she sensed me. She was looking right at me. "It's you again," She said. I realized she was precog as well.

"The silence is approaching. We must find the messiah. Only you and I can do it," I said. This was the information I had gathered so far from all my premonitions and I relayed the message to her. Finding the talismans would lead to the messiah, who could then save the world. The tall girl with the staff also said that only Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus could find the talismans.

I woke from the premonition and wished I could go back. Was I right? Did I really feel her in there? I glanced over at the calendar. Two more days till I meet her in real life.

"On your marks, ready, GO."

The race started and Haruka took off like a wind. She ran gracefully around the track, passing everyone with ease. Elsa was doing pretty good, but there was a great gap between them. Haruka easily took the first place home that day. I watched in utter amazement. I felt my heart pounding wildly in my chest. I didn't think this would be possible after Alex, but I felt like I was falling in love already.

After the race, Elsa ran up to me, beaming with excitement. Clearly she was not upset by the fact that she lost to Haruka. "Come, Michiru. She was just finished changing. I want to introduce you to her." Elsa grabbed my hand and raced down the stadium stairs.

"Miss Haruka Tenou, I had heard rumors about you. You really are amazing. I have someone I want to introduce to you," Elsa said. "Come on over, Michiru. This is Michiru Kaioh. She's really intelligent and she's said to be a prodigious painter. She says she's interested in you."

"You are not sweating much. Perhaps you were holding back quite a bit?" I said to Haruka.

"What do you mean?"

"Can't you hear the sound of wind rustling?" I said cryptically. She said that once in the premonition. I wondered if she recognized me.

"You are weird. So what do you want with me?" Haruka asked.

My heart sank when I heard that. She did not recognize me after all. "Will you be a model for one of my drawings?" I quickly asked her as she was turning to leave. If I could get her alone, perhaps I could explain everything to her.

"I'll pass. I don't like stuff like that." She said without turning her head.

I bowed my head, disappointed. Somehow I thought she would embrace her destiny like I did. If she was already a soldier, she could fight with me. I wouldn't ever have to fight alone again.

After that encounter, I thought that would be the last time I see Haruka. So I was surprised to see her in the audience when I was performing on a cruise at Tokyo bay. Later I learned that it was because of Elsa Gray. She somehow convinced Haruka to come hear me play. I guess Elsa really wanted to repay me for saving her life. She knew my feelings towards Haruka and she had been relentless in her matchmaking schemes.

I went to look for Haruka as soon as I finished my performance. I saw she left through entrance A and I followed her. I found her standing in the middle of the stairs, looking incredibly handsome in her black suit. I was slightly pleased to find her staring at one of my doomsday paintings. Lately, I had been selling my artworks as a way of earning money. So was the performance tonight.

I asked her, "do you like the painting".

"The end of the world. I'm surprised that a well-to-do girl who can't even kill one bug can draw such a tragic fantasy." Haruka said cruelly.

"It's not a fantasy!" I felt anger rising inside of me. "I can see that scene clearly! Just like you can…"

"This is stupid." Haruka interrupted. "I am Haruka Tenou, the first junior racer in Japan. Memories of my previous life or the end of the world have nothing to do with me. If someone has to do it, then YOU can do it."

"Don't be so selfish. I wanted to become a violinist, I have dreams too. I can't do something stupid like saving the world from destruction." I yelled back at Haruka. I thought of all the sacrifices I made. My life as normal Michiru was over the moment I grabbed the transformation wand. The awakening of Sailor Neptune meant sacrificing parts of Michiru, including her dream. I knew I could never be a violinist. I choked back my tears and I left. "How could she deny that? After everything she saw in the premonition…" I thought.

Elsa found me later, crying in my dressing room. She assumed I was crying because I was rejected. In a sense, I was; but not in the way she imagined. When I felt her in my premonition, there was a sense of hope. Now, I wasn't sure if that might have been wishful thinking.

Elsa patted me gently on the back and said, "Don't give up. I am pretty good at reading people. I think Haruka likes you back. She is just being weird because she is famous. Here. Let's go to her car race on Sunday. Talk to her then." I nodded, but I wasn't convinced. Perhaps the world was doomed.


	8. Sailor Uranus

Chapter 8-Sailor Uranus

That night I couldn't sleep at all. I tossed and turned as I thought about Haruka. Perhaps I was too harsh on her tonight. Perhaps I rushed into it without preparing her for what was to come. Would I have embraced my destiny so readily if I wasn't in danger at the moment? If the transformation pen wasn't there during Alex's attack, I would have died. I didn't have a choice.

Haruka was being honest about her feelings. She found her purpose and she wanted to pursue her dream. Was it fair that just because Sailor Uranus reincarnated inside her, that Haruka would have to give up her dream? I started to doubt my resolve about my own destiny…

The day of the race, I got to the track early. Elsa said she would meet up with me at ten. I wanted to see if I could talk to Haruka one more time, in private. I spotted her from afar. She was talking to her crew, bossing them as they run around servicing her racing car. Her face was so determined. I couldn't help but smile at how annoyed she looked when one guy screwed up. Haruka pushed him aside and she went under the car herself, apparently to fix whatever the other guy messed up.

After she was done, Haruka left the crew and walked toward the garage. I quickly followed. I was just around the corner of the building when I sensed danger. I started running towards it, realizing it was coming from the garage Haruka just went in.

All of a sudden, a bright orange light flashed through the garage. "No. Could it be…her awakening?" I thought as I continued to dash toward the source. I saw Haruka on the floor, facing a giant worm-like monster. The Uranus transformation pen was blinking and floating in midair. Haruka was reaching for it.

"No. Don't. The moment you grab it, you will never return to your mundane life." Surprised, Haruka stopped and turned to look at me. I raised my pen and yelled, "Neptune Planet Power Makeup." I decided, at that moment, that I didn't want Haruka to suffer like I did. I could shoulder the responsibility myself. Let me be the only one to lose dreams. Let me be the one to bear blood on my hands in the name of saving the world.

I quickly threw one attack at the monster, knocking it hard toward the wall, crashing into the shelves. As I got ready to push another attack, Haruka stepped in and shielded the monster from my attack.

"No, you can't. He was a human just a minute ago. Are you all right dong this? This is murder." Haruka said accusingly.

I lamented at how innocent Haruka was. "The silence is approaching. If I don't do this, there will be even more victims! I don't care what means I use!" I explained.

Just then, a loud rumble came from behind Haruka. The giant worm re-emerged under the shelves. Without thinking, I lunged forward and knocked Haruka out of the harm's way. I felt the worm's sharp teeth sliced through my left arm and back before I landed hard on top of Haruka. Without a moment's pause, I turned and threw another attack at the worm. "Deep submerge." I collapsed into Haruka's arms as I used up the last of my energy.

When I came to, I was still in Haruka's arms. "Where is the monster," I asked.

"He turned back into a human. He was alright," Haruka replied. I was relieved and surprised to hear that. Usually, my attacks ended up killing the monsters.

"I might have killed him. Next time, I am sure I will kill again. It is not that I am fine with it. But I am a soldier. I chose to do this." I turned away in shame.

"Why did you cover for me just now? If you hurt your hand, you won't be able to become a violinist," Haruka said as she gently raised my injured arm.

"Because I wanted to protect you. You are the one person I don't want to see walking the same path that I did. When I realized you were Sailor Uranus, I was happy. I am sorry, I didn't mean to tell you all this."

Haruka gently laid me down on the floor and walked toward the wand. My feelings were mixed as I watched her picked it up. The power from the wand flowed into her, along with her past life's memories.

"Uranus Planet Power Makeup."

Sunlight beamed from the wand and surrounded Haruka. Sailor Uranus had awakened.

Sailor Uranus walked toward me and helped me to my feet. She raised my chin and gently kissed me on the lips. Basked in the brightness of her light, I felt warm.

"Thank you, Neptune, for waking me. You don't ever have to fight alone again."

Up to this point, my journey as Sailor Neptune had been excruciating and painful. Then, she showed up at my most desperate moment. Her warm light touched me and wiped out the darkness. At that moment, I felt hope. I haven't felt hope in a very long time. Hell seemed less scary now, now that I had her by my side, fighting till the end.


	9. The Mission

Chapter 9-The mission

Shortly after Haruka and I got together, as partners in life and partners in battle, the Silence started.

We learned from one battle that our enemies are called Death Busters. Karolinite, who seemed to be the leader at the moment, was responsible for pulling out pure hearts from humans. The three talismans hid inside three innocent pure hearts and in order for the talismans to appear, it meant sacrificing those three humans.

Haruka and I could both sense the evilness of the Daimons, a new species of monsters created by the enemy. Our plan of attack was to track them across the city and wait to see if the pure hearts they pulled out were talismans. We would try to save as many people as possible but we were prepared to sacrifice them if they had the talismans. So far, we hadn't encountered any and we were able to return the pure hearts to their rightful owners. Haruka and I worked seamlessly as a team and the Daimons did not stand a chance.

The mission was difficult. It sat on our conscience for a long time, the fact that we had to kill three innocent people. I confessed to Haruka about my past and I told her exactly what the price would be if we carried on with this plan. Yet, we knew this was our only option. We had to do what no one else could do. We would taint our hands and our hearts in order to save everyone. Sacrifice three and save billions, it wasn't difficult to figure it out right?

After two years of fighting with the death busters, we finally met the inner Sailor scouts. They were young and they were inexperienced. Haruka decided that we shouldn't share our plans with them and we should distance ourselves from them.

Sailor moon begged us to reconsider our plan. She was so kind-hearted and pure. It was truly amazing to see how she could love just about anybody. I felt my heart thawed when I was around her. Were we wrong? Could there be another way without sacrificing anybody?

One day in battle, Haruka and I stepped into Karolinite's trap. She randomly attacked a victim just so that she could drawn us out. Sailor moon and Uranus tried to save me but the enemy was too strong.

"Uranus. Run now. You need to stay alive to complete our mission." I yelled at Uranus. We had agreed that we would not return to save each other if one of us was captured. I made her promised. I saw the painful look on Uranus's face and watched her dragged Sailor Moon away from the harm's way. "Run, my dear Haruka. Please finish the mission and save the world for me," I thought as I was thrown into the waterfall by Karolinite.

I plungged into the depth of the waterfall. Luckily I did not hit any rocks on the way down. The impact with the water knocked the wind out of my lungs and I struggled to stay awake as I sank deeper. I was always a good swimmer and I knew I could hold my breath for a long time. The waterfall kept pushing me down and it was a bit of a struggle. Eventually I was able to swim out of the downward current and re-emerge to the top. Surprised, I saw Uranus ran toward me.

"Why did you come back to save me?" I was both angry and glad at the same time. Uranus explained that it was Sailor moon that made her come back and it was Sailor moon that saved me.

That night, Haruka held me tightly in bed. I could tell she was scared. She almost witness my death today. I put my head on her bosom and I listened to her steady heartbeat. "Haruka, don't ever do something stupid like today. If you died today, all the sacrifices we made would mean nothing."

She pulled me in tighter, without responding. That was her way of protesting I guess. "Michiru. Michiru." She said my name over and over, as she planted kisses on the top of my head.

As I drift off to sleep, I wondered, what would tomorrow bring. If we would encounter the talismans tomorrow…if we would have to kill….


	10. The Talismans

Chapter 10-The Talismans

Day after day, battle after battle, Haruka and I hadn't found the talismans. With each passing day, as we felt the Silence approaching, we got more and more restless.

Sailor Pluto, reincarnated as Setsuna, came to visit us the other day. It was the first time we met in person but we felt close to each other. Having seeing each other every night in the premonition, it was like seeing an old friend again.

She had been secretly tracking us, watching us from the space-time gate. She encouraged us to cooperate with the Sailor Scouts as much as possible without revealing our final plan. The scouts knew we were prepared to sacrifice the humans with the talismans hidden inside their pure hearts, but they did not know we were also prepared to sacrifice one more person. Setsuna knew that the Messiah of Silence was hiding inside another human. Once the three talismans were in place, it would conjure up the Holy Grail. According to legends, it had infinite power. If the Holy Grail fell into the Messiah of Silence, then the world would end. If we could kill the Messiah of Silence before it got to that point, then we would have a chance to stop the apocalypse before it happened. Setsuna also urged us to keep an eye out for the Messiah of Light, the one and only who can bear the power of the Holy Grail and save the world.

In one particular battle, while trying to save a girl name Minako, Eugeal, one of the five witches, learned about our true identities. In a surprising turn of event, we also learned the identities of the rest of the scouts and that Minako was Sailor Venus. We were saddened to learn that Usagi-chan was Sailor Moon. Usagi-chan was a girl we met and quickly became friends with. Haruka shamelessly flirted with her and Minako-chan initially. She was always amused by how easy she could make straight girls question their own sexual orientations. Our civilian lives were intertwined from that day on. For some reason, we kept running into each other. In hindsight, it must have been destiny.

The day after our identities were revealed, we got an invite from the enemy. Eugeal claimed that she had found one of the talisman owners. Haruka and I had been seeing it in our premonition, that we would soon reach the final stage of our mission. We thought Eugeal's invite could be a trap but it was a trap we had to walk into nonetheless.

"Haruka…what are we going to do with Sailor Moon? If she continued to muddle with our plans, we might lose… I wanted to believe her when she said she could save the world without sacrificing anyone, but I couldn't let her sway me from the mission."

It was then we decided to do the most despicable thing we could ever think of. We called Usagi-chan and lured her to the aquarium. She came running in, beaming with her usual excitement.

"Don't show yourself in front of us ever again. I won't allow you to slow us down with your half-baked playwar," Haruka said. I watched as the smile vanished from Usagi-chan's face. A shadow of sadness cast over her eyes. Haruka walked up to her and ripped her transformation brooch away. I turned my head so I didn't have to see Usagi's expression. We stripped away her power. We assaulted her. It was betrayal at the highest level. Yet we must carry on.

We turned and walked away. On the way to the helicopter, Haruka grabbed my hand and gave me a squeeze. The premonition had prepared us for this moment. We would walk into the Marine Cathedral and defeat the enemy. We would grab the talisman and then leave. That innocent person would die. I flashed back to when I first learned I killed my parents. That stabbing pain in the heart, the immense guilt and shame that washed over me, Haruka would feel it too. Her hands would soon be tainted.

I stopped walking. Haruka turned to see why I stopped. "Neptune..we have to hurry."

I put one finger on her lips, stopping her from talking. Then I kissed her passionately on the lips. At least in hell, she would be with me.

"Neptune. We won't die today. I promise."

"Just in case, Uranus. Now, let's go."


	11. My Death

Chapter 11- My Death

The Marine Cathedral stood majestically over water. It was supposed to be a holy place. How ironic that we were walking in and preparing to commit murder.

The giant door swung open and we entered a long dark hallway. It was decorated with red carved stones on both sides. The cathedral seemed empty. As we walked down the hallway, I started to feel unease. What was I missing? It felt like someone was watching us. No, not someone. I turned to double check the red stones.

All of a sudden, all of the stones moved away from the walls and started to form a line in the middle of the hallway. Uranus and I were trapped. Then they started flying towards us at top speed. I could only assume the force of impact if one was slammed with one of those. It should be able to easily break some bones, crush a few ribs perhaps. We dodged a few and then we started throwing attacks at them. Once again, Uranus and I worked as a perfect team. We easily destroyed all of them.

Except we missed one. It was too late when I saw it. It was moving fast toward Uranus. Instincts took over and I pushed Uranus out of the way. The stone slammed into my back at bone-crushing speed. I passed out instantly.

When I came to, I saw Eugeal standing over Uranus. The gun that was used to ripped out hearts was pointing at Uranus. "NO!" I tugged at the vine that was holding me to the stone. It burned my wrists as I pulled. I managed to break free and I started running across the bridge to where Uranus was.

Those damn red stones again. On both sides of the bridge, the stones turned and started shooting bullets. I felt them. I felt all of them. As each bullet entered me, I knew my countdown clock had started. "Uranus. Haruka." I said her name over and over as I continued to make my way across the bridge. I won't let her die.

The pain intensified as more bullets hit me. I carried on. By the time I reached Eugeal, the stones finally ran out of bullets. I grabbed the gun as Eugeal was firing it. The force penetrated my heart.

"Neptune!" That was the last sound I heard. Haruka screaming my name.

The pain dulled, as my body prepared for its final moment. My heart raised out of my body and morphed into a talisman.

All this time, it was hidden inside me. I never thought my heart would be pure. How could a killer have a pure heart? Yet I was glad. I sacrificed myself so that the world could be saved. I silently apologized to Haruka as I drew my last breath. She would have to fight alone now…


	12. The Resurrection

Chapter 12-The Resurrection

"So this is where Sailor Senshi end up when they die," I thought. I flew out of the Earth's orbit and ended up on my home planet, Neptune. Without a corporeal body, I floated around my blue globe. Large storms swept across the upper atmosphere. High-speed solar winds whipped across the planet.

I landed on the side facing the Earth. "Haruka, can you believe this? I am 2.7 billion miles from you. How are you on Earth?" I talked out loud, pretending that my love could hear me from the distance.

For my past life, I have spent billions of years protecting this planet. I fought solo against any threats that might enter the solar system. I guess this would be my duty again. Sailor moon and the others would continue to fight evil on Earth. Perhaps Haruka could join them so that she wouldn't have to fight alone.

Deep in thought, I didn't notice the brilliant gold beam coming out of Earth, flying straight towards Uranus. One billion miles away, something crashed onto the surface of the icy planet. I witnessed the impact and my heart sank. That could only mean one thing. Sailor Uranus had fallen.

With Uranus so far, I couldn't sense her anymore. I tried jumping, to see if I could propel my incorporeal body toward my Haruka. Unfortunately, Neptune had the second largest gravity in the solar system. I was stuck.

Just like the proverb "*every meeting must end in parting", this was the end of us. We met, we fought, we fell in love. Short as it was, it was the most precious memories I had. I silently said goodbye to Haruka in my head.

Just then, my body started to glow. I levitated away from the surface of Neptune and I was propelled toward Earth again. I could smell the sea and hear the roar of the ocean waves. Strength washed over me, reawakening my every sense. I turned my head and I saw Uranus flying beside me. We both descended into our human bodies.

Sailor Uranus, awakened, turned and smiled at me. "The true talismans…."

"Didn't have to sacrifice anyone." I filled in Uranus's looked at each other, feeling blessed that we would get a second chance at life.

As it turned out, Sailor Pluto already had the third talismans-the Garnet Orb. I reached for my Deep Aqua Mirror as Sailor Uranus grabbed her Space Sword. We raised our talismans and called out for the Holy Grail. It materialized and stood at the apex of the triangle.

"Depending on who uses it, it could mean destruction or salvation of the world," Pluto explained.

"Fire Buster." Before anyone could grab the Grail, Eugeal called out her attack. Deadly flames surrounded us in an instant. All of the scouts, including us, were engulfed in the blistering heat. I tried to call out my attack, but I collapsed to the ground. Still weak from being resurrected, I had used all of my energy to conjure the Holy Grail. I looked at the rest of the scouts helplessly, praying that Sailor Mercury could come up with an attack strong enough to extinguish the flames.

We watched in amazement as we saw the usually clumsy Usagi leaped out of the fire ring. Sailor Moon rushed toward the Grail. Eugeal already had a head start and was ahead of her. They both leaped at the same time, arms reaching out for the Grail that was still floating in midair. Thankfully, Sailor Moon grabbed it first and bright energy flowed from the grail into her. The energy swept through the room, extinguishing the flames. Incredibly, Sailor Moon did a second transformation. Eugeal threw her attack at Moon, her last attempt. Sailor Moon waved her hand, easily deflected the attack and sent Eugeal flying out the window.

For a moment there, I was hopeful. Was Sailor Moon the messiah of light? Was she the salvation?

However, Sailor Moon collapsed after using the grail, weak from spending all of her strengths. She was not the messiah after all. If she was, she would be able to use the infinite power of the Grail.

"It looks like we have a new mission now," Uranus said to me.

I smiled and pulled Uranus into a tight embrace. I didn't want to think about mission or battles now. I just wanted to feel her in my arms.

"Shh..not now. Welcome back, my Haruka," I whispered into her ear.

* * *

****This is the Japanese proverb **会者定離** **, meaning "Every meeting must end in parting".********


	13. The Date

Chapter 13-The Date

"Michiru, we should skip class tomorrow," Haruka suggested.

I chuckled. Ever since we infiltrated Mugen Academy, where we sensed the most evil energy around town, we had only attended maybe two or three days of class. "At this rate, Haruka, we might get kicked out." I tossed a lemon at Haruka.

Ever since our battle at the Marine Cathedral, things had been quiet for a while. We haven't run across any daimons in about a week. Now we were making dinner in the kitchen as if we were normal people. It was nice.

Haruka caught the lemon and started zesting it over her salad. I looked skeptically at the dish she was preparing. Haruka was good at many things but I wasn't sure if she could cook. "Trust me, Michiru, it is yummy. Do you want me to put sea cucumbers in it too?" Haruka teased, knowing it was one of my least favorite foods.

"That's it. I am ordering pizza." I teased back.

She pulled me back as I was pretending to leave the kitchen. I stumbled a bit and I crashed into her chest. "Or we could skip dinner and go straight to dessert," I suggested.

"No. You are tasting my salad. I got the recipe from a cookbook and they said it would be failed safe." Haruka brushed a few strands of hair away from my face and gazed at me using her puppy eyes. I relented.

"Actually, Michiru, why don't you go for a swim? Relax a bit? I don't actually need your help here."  
"Are you sure?" I started imagining what the kitchen would look like when I get back. I looked at the pile of dirty dishes she had in the sink. All that for just making one salad.

Haruka practically pushed me out of the kitchen. I relented. Swimming would be nice I guess. I loved swimming because it always calmed me down.

"I will be back in 30 minutes," I said to Haruka.

"No, you won't. I am estimating, at least, an hour. Take your time, though, my love." Haruka poked her head out of the kitchen and winked at me.

An hour later, I came back up from the pool. Feeling refreshed and hungry, I started to look forward to Haruka's dinner. It was nice that Haruka offered to cook. My parents never cooked and we never had a normal family dinner. This would be a new experience.

I pushed the door open and the hallway was dark. "Haruka, I am back…" I fumbled around for the light switch.

Just then, I heard a movement in the living room. I instinctively reached for my transformation wand. Did someone come back and attack Haruka? The enemy knew where we live after all.

"Neptune planet…." I stopped mid sentence as I heard Haruka snickering from the dining room. "What is going on?"

On the dining room floor, there were rose petals everywhere. In the middle, there was a birthday cake with candles lit. Since we never bothered to buy furniture, the birthday cake, the salad and a plate of badly assembled sushi lay on the floor.

Haruka was kneeling on one knee and she was holding a bouquet of roses.

"SURPRISE. Happy birthday my love."

"Haruka!" I was speechless. No one had celebrated my birthday ever since my parents' death. How long had it been? Two years? Three years? Tears started to well up in my eyes.

"Shit. I didn't mean to make you cry. Are you okay?" Haruka came over and gently pulled me into a hug.

"I love you, Haruka," I said between my sobs.

"It will be okay Michiru. As long as I am alive, I will remember your birthday. We will celebrate it together every year. That's a promise." Haruka gently stroke my hair. "Now, let's make a wish. Then we can start eating."

I sat on the floor and looked at the cake. It was almost too beautiful to eat. I stared at the dancing flames and I made a long, long wish. I wished that we would be victorious in saving the world. I wished that the Messiah of Silence resided in an evil person, so we wouldn't have to sacrifice an innocent person. I wished I could repent my past sins. Most importantly, I wished Haruka would be happy.

Haruka passed me a plate with sushi and salad on it. Even though the sushi were falling apart, I could feel the effort and love Haruka put into it. I was still looking at the plate, trying to decide which to eat first, when Haruka put down her plate, looking all serious. She was still chewing a piece of her sushi. She swallowed and then she looked at me.

"Michiru…"

"Yes, Haruka?"

"Let's order pizza…."


	14. The Messiah

Chapter 14-The Messiah

"Michiru, I think I found her." A grim Haruka walked in. Judging by her expression, she must have meant the Messiah of Silence and not the Messiah of Light.

"What happened?"

Haruka flopped, face down, on the bed. She let out an angry scream as she slammed her fist on the bed. I sat down beside her, worried. "This must be bad," I thought.

"What happened?" I asked again.

"After the whole talismans deal, I was hopeful that maybe we wouldn't have to kill anybody innocent. I was hoping that the Messiah of Silence would pick the worst, evilest person to reside in. Looks like the nightmare is far from over."

Haruka retold the event.

She was cruising around town in her car when she sensed massive negative energy coming from the hospital. She pulled up and saw Chibiusa, Sailor Chibi Moon, walking with a friend. Haruka offered to give them a ride.

Chibiusa's new friend was Tomoe Hotaru. She was the daughter of Professor Tomoe, the founder of Mugen Academy. She looked like a sweet, innocent girl. Yet Haruka continued to sense evil radiating from her.

On the drive back, they ran into a Daimon. Sailor Uranus and Sailor Chibimoon took off to fight the monster, leaving Hotaru in the car. The Daimon managed to escape and ran straight at Hotaru.

"I saw the Daimon took off, running toward my car. I chased after it, worried that it would attack Hotaru. I wasn't sure if she was the Messiah yet and I couldn't bear to see a little girl getting hurt. It was then when I saw Hotaru released her dark power. Her red glowing eyes looked right at me. Her power was strong enough to paralyze a Daimon." Haruka sighed.

I pulled Haruka into my arms. "So we need to find out more about her,"I reasoned.

My calm exterior was a contrast to my stormy emotions. If this little girl turned out to be the host for Messiah of Silence, then we would have to stop her before the Messiah re-awakens. I wasn't sure if I could get myself to kill again.

"Kill one, save billions. This is war. War requires sacrifices. The little girl would die so that the world could be saved." I said to myself over and over again, trying to convince myself. At the same time, I kept picturing Sailor Moon's face, and her voice saying "I will save the world without sacrificing anyone". Conflicted as I was, I knew what I had to do. I couldn't jeopardize the world just so that I could save my conscience.

I called Setsuna right away. Together, we decided to take turns trailing Hotaru. If the host body was in danger, the dark power within should be triggered to protect the body. "We just have to wait till she is attacked again," Setsuna said calmly.

For the next few nights, the premonition dream continued to get stronger and stronger. Neither of us could get any proper sleep. Sometimes we would give up on sleep altogether and go out for a drive instead. We patrolled the streets of Tokyo and quashed any Daimons that popped up. We tried to keep our minds busy, just so that we wouldn't have to think about how to murder a little girl.

As the premonition got stronger, I was able to see the Messiah of Silence more clearly. In the dream, she was holding a long weapon, smiling evilly as she witnessed the ruins of the world. I realized at that point, that it was the Silence Glave. The legendary weapon of the soldier of ruin, Sailor Saturn. Could it be? Messiah of Silence residing inside the most powerful Sailor soldier? I woke up with a jolt, as I felt fear coursing through my body. "If Sailor Saturn reawakens with such dark power inside of her, then it is the end of the world for sure," I thought.

One day, our darkest fear came true. We were tailing Hotaru when we saw Chibiusa dragging her to go to the brand new planetarium. The scouts went with them as well. A Daimon appeared in the middle of the show and the scouts came forth to fight it. We stood back. It was the perfect opportunity for us to determine if Hotaru was the one.

As the fight escalated, the threat toward Hotaru increased. As predicted, a blast of energy radiated out of the little girl and the symbol of Saturn appeared on her forehead. Everyone was shocked to have discovered another Sailor soldier.

"She is the one. She is Sailor Saturn. She is also the Messiah of Silence." Setsuna, Haruka and I knew what we had to do.

"World Shaking!" "Deep Submerge!" "Dead Scream!" We each called out our attacks and threw them straight at Hotaru. We weren't sure if combining our attacks would be strong enough to kill the Soldier of Ruin, but we had to try. We could end the apocalypse right now.

Sailor Moon jumped in at the last second and lifted Hotaru out of the harm's way.

"You can't just kill a little girl," Chibi-usa yelled.

But there was no other way. We tried to explain to the scouts that we needed to kill the girl before Saturn reawaken. Reawakening could only mean one thing-the end of the world.

Before we could convince the scouts, before we could try attacking again, Hotaru's body disappeared into thin air. My heart stopped. That was our perfect chance and we just lost it. What would happen to the world now?


	15. The Silence Part 1

***A.N. Major plot lines were taken from the anime but some details were changed. I wanted to focus on Michiru and Haruka's battle, so I cut down on Sailor moon's involvement in this chapter.***

Chapter 15-The Silence Part I

The Silence had arrived.

"The wind is crying," Haruka said. We stood on top of our apartment and we watched as darkness enveloped Tokyo.

When we got to the Mugen Academy, things had started in motion. We watched as all the students from Mugen Academy marched into the dark building, possessed, straight to their demise. "Surrender your hearts," the final witch waved her hand and thousands of pure hearts ascended toward the dark heaven. The students all collapsed, piled on top of each other, dead.

"Upstairs," I said to Haruka as I started racing up the back stairs. I could sense the rift in space and it was coming from the top floor. We ran in silence all the way up. There were no words we could say to each other now. Our footsteps echoed through the empty staircase.

Right in front of the principal's office, there was a black hole, shimmering with dark energy. Haruka halted, as she felt the evil radiating from within. She grabbed my hand and said, "let's go and have breakfast after this."

I raised her hand and kissed it. "If the world doesn't end, I will buy you ten pancakes."

Haruka smiled and teased, "twenty. At least twenty." She raised her transformation pen and yelled "Uranus Planet Power Makeup." The fun moment was over. I raised my pen and yelled "Neptune Planet Power Makeup".

We entered the black hole and step foot into another dimension. When our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we saw rows and rows of scientific equipment and a lot of pink test tubes. Up ahead, dark energy crackled and evil laughs rang through the hallway.

We raced straight ahead, toward the source. Professor Tomoe was bending over a small figure on a slab. Hotaru was slumped over on a throne.

"Sailor Chibi moon!" Uranus gasped. The little girl was lying on top of the slab like a sacrificial lamb. Uranus ran straight toward her, hand raised, ready to throw the attack at the professor. _Zap_! An invisible barrier sent Uranus flying. She landed with a thud on the ground, several feet from me.

"Deep Submerge!" I threw the attack at the barrier. Nothing. The attack was absorbed in an instant, causing the barrier to expand.

Professor Tomoe laughed. "Welcome, my superior students. You are just in time to witness the awakening of the Messiah."

A red glowing hand clawed out of Hotaru's body and extended all the way to Chibi moon, then it dug sharply into her. Chibi moon let out a piercing scream as her heart was ripped out of her chest. The bright energy of her pure heart illuminated the room briefly before it was swallowed by Hotaru. The Messiah of Silence woke, transforming the little girl's body into a grown woman. Hotaru was gone, erased from existence by the evil within her.

Fully expecting to see the soldier of ruin, we saw someone else instead. The Messiah of silence was not Sailor Saturn. She called herself Mistress Nine.

She raised her hands and sent her attack toward us. We were sent flying toward the walls. She then sent another shock through the building. Strong shakes rippled through the building, as the walls started to crumble around us.

The sailor scouts arrived just in time to see stones falling around Chibi moon's lifeless body. "The dimension is disappearing. We have to go now." I yelled at Sailor Moon. She was standing over Chibi moon's body, too shocked to move. Uranus grabbed Chibi moon while Sailor Mars dragged Sailor Moon away, seconds before the pillars descended on the spot she was standing at.

All of us made it out of the building just in time. The top half of the building exploded while the rest lay in ruin.

Sailor Pluto and Tuxedo mask were there as well. They had been busy evacuating the students out of the building. I was glad to hear that all the hearts they surrendered were returned when the witches were defeated by the scouts.

"We must retreat now. Let's regroup," Sailor Pluto suggested.

Haruka and I went home while Setsuna went with the scouts. We spent the last hour of our lives kissing, making love and bandaging each other's combat wounds. We would meet up with Setsuna in an hour.

"Setsuna must be telling the scouts our plan now," Haruka said. We had decided that if we were unable to stop the Messiah from waking, plan B would be for the three of us to go in as the first line of defense. We had to kill the Messiah in order to save Chibi moon and stop the enemy. If we failed, then the Sailor Scouts would be Earth's last hope.

One hour went by too quickly. Setsuna arrived and we went over our plans again. Haruka suggested that we took the helicopter and we could attack from the top.

In the helicopter, we all stayed silent. Uranus gripped the control tightly. I could sense her trepidation and I put one hand on hers. I felt her relax a bit. I couldn't help but stare at her beautiful face. I wanted to remember every single detail of her.

"What was that?" Haruka sounded terrified. I looked toward where she was pointing. The Mugen building was surrounded by a big red dome. A barrier of some sort. At the top of the dome, a giant opening in the shape of a star was visible. I subconsciously gripped my seat belt.

As we approached closer, we realized that the dome was not just an energy barrier. It was made up of millions of un-matured Daimons. Without form, they melted together into a dome. Sensing our approach, the Daimons looked up from below and opened their mouths into wide creepy grins.

The creatures separated, melted like liquid, then flew straight toward our helicopter. They wrapped themselves around the cockpit and squeezed. Both rotors stopped spinning and the control panel started to crack. Electricity course through the cockpit, as we all screamed in pain. Any minute now. Death was imminent.

The cockpit exploded, reduced to pieces and fragments. Surprisingly, Uranus and I were unharmed, suspended within a bubble. Sailor Pluto had her Garnet orb raised. In order to save us, she had stopped time. She had talked about what would happen to her if she ever stopped time, which was one of the biggest taboo for a time guardian.

"Sailor Pluto," I cried, knowing what would happen now.

"Go save the world," Sailor Pluto's last words before she teleported us out of the exploding cockpit. We landed on the top exposed floor of Mugen. We looked up just in time to see the helicopter explode, claiming Sailor Pluto's mortal body. That was the price for stopping time. She would be banished to Pluto and never to return.

I sunk to my knees. The first line of defense, one down, two left.


	16. The Silence-Part II

Chapter 16-The Silence Part II

I stood up and wiped away my tears. Pluto sacrificed herself for us. We must carry on and not waste her death.

We ran down the long corridor, heading straight toward the center of the building. All of a sudden, we both sensed something evil surrounding us and we stopped. At first, they were puddles of liquid on the ground, inconspicuous. Then they raised up and formed a Daimon army. The monsters quickly spread themselves around us until we were trapped. Professor Tomoe stood proudly on the far end watching. "These are my children. I made them out of my own image."

Uranus and I started to fight our way through. A punch here, a kick there. The Daimons went down easily. Then they reformed just as quickly. Once we had enough clearing, we threw our attacks at them. Again, they bounced back, seemingly endless and unbeatable. We fought on, pushing past our point of exhaustion.

The Daimons knew. They could feel our attacks getting weaker, our punches getting softer. Eventually, we collapsed on the floor, overwhelmed by the attacks. I tried to stand up, but my leg was badly slashed by one of the monsters. Uranus automatically stood in front of me, trying to shield me as the Daimons closed in.

"Talisman." A voice popped into our heads. The deep aqua mirror and the space sword materialized in front of us.

I grabbed the mirror and I shined it at all the monsters. There was no hiding from my all-knowing talisman. All the other monsters faded away until the one true form stood. Uranus grabbed the space sword and drove it through the Daimon's head.

"I thought I heard Pluto's voice just then," Uranus said. I nodded as I heard it too. Even when she was dead, she was able to save our lives again.

"Can you move, Neptune?" Uranus bent down to examine me. I grabbed onto her shoulders and stood up. Pain shot straight through as I bear my weight on the legs. I forced a smile at Uranus. She looked so worried.

 _Boom._ A loud explosion rang through the corridor. When it cleared, we could see Sailor Moon lying on the ground. "Sailor Moon!" I started running towards her. I willed my brain to stop feeling the pain from the leg wound, so I could run faster.

As Mistress Nine raised her hand to throw another attack at Moon, Uranus and I shot our attacks together at the evil Mistress. To our utter shock, Sailor Moon stood up and deliberately blocked our attacks.

"Hotaru is still alive. She is inside of Mistress Nine. We can't kill her," Sailor Moon had her arms spread out, even though she could barely stand. "We can't attack her. She is Hotaru."

"Don't be fooled, Sailor Moon!" Uranus raised her hand, getting ready for another attack. "Stay out of my way!"

Mistress Nine whipped out her ridiculously long hair and grabbed both me and Uranus. We were thrown against the marble pillar and more hair wrapped us securely to the post. Additional hair tied around our necks and it tightens its grip while the hair that was around our body started to squeeze. My body fought and wiggled, trying to loosen the grip. I tugged at the hair around my neck, trying to steal little breaths. My visions started to blur and my lungs felt like they were on fire. Panic started to set in as the body realized it could not survive long. I turned my head and saw that Uranus was turning dangerously blue already.

"Hand over your Holy Grail or your soldiers die, right now!" Mistress Nine threatened.

"Don't you dare, Sailor Moon." My voice croaked from the choking. "Our lives are not important. Please don't. I beg of you." I watched helplessly as Sailor Moon conjured the Holy Grail and handed it over to Mistress Nine.

The choking stopped and Uranus and I fell to the ground.

"Now you can all die together." Mistress Nine laughed and thrust the Grail into the bubble of alternate dimension, and the bubble started to expand. "Now my boss Pharoah 90 and all of his army will take over Earth."

I picked up Uranus's limp body and checked her pulse. It was faint, but she was still alive. I put her head on my lap and I stroke her hair. The world was ending now. Images of our "mundane" life flashed through my head…that night when she stole all the blankets and I woke up freezing; that day when she accidentally spilled tea on my music sheet; that one time when she popped my dislocated shoulder back into place after the battle. "Our time together was too short, Haruka." I kissed her gently on the lips. Uranus slowly opened her eyes and she gave me a weak smile.

The bubble of alternate dimension continued to develop, swallowing and suffocating everything else. The darkness and silence had spread. Defeated, Sailor Moon kneeled on the ground and she was weeping quietly.

Just when we thought all hopes were lost, Mistress Nine stopped. Instead, Hotaru's voice was heard again.

"How are you not dead yet? Be gone." Mistress Nine snarled.

"No. I have people I care about." Hotaru replied within the mistress.

"You stupid little pest. I will get rid of you once and for all." Mistress Nine clenched her fists and enveloped herself with more dark energy.

"No! I am Hotaru. I am Sailor Saturn." Hotaru yelled. The Saturn symbol appeared on her forehead and Mistress Nine screamed before she disintegrated. Standing in her place was a translucent Sailor Saturn.

She turned to Sailor Moon. "Don't worry. Chibiusa is safe now, her pure heart had been returned. Thank you for trying to save me. Now I will use my Silence Glave to end Pharoah 90."

"What will happen to you?," asked Sailor Moon.

"I was given enough power to destroy a planet. As a price, I would have to die also. This is my job. This is my duty. Let me save everyone." With that, Sailor Saturn jumped into the alternate dimension.

Without thinking, Sailor Moon followed.

Uranus and I watched, too weak and too wounded to help. Bright lights flashed through the black hole and we could hear the brutality of the fight. "DEATH REBORN REVOLUTION!" Saturn's voice rang through, followed by the screams of Pharoah 90 and his army.

The alternate dimension was obliterated. The sky was illuminated again as the sun started to rise. The wind died down and the sea was no longer stormy. Peace and calm descended over Tokyo.

In the sky, a spiral of light descended. In it was Sailor Moon and she was carrying a baby. Uranus and I rushed over, shocked to see her alive still. In her arms, the baby cooed and smiled. It was Hotaru, reincarnated as a baby. At that point, tears were running down my cheeks.

Hotaru, Sailor Saturn, was the Messiah of Light. The girl we almost killed. Instead, she gladly gave up her life so that she could fulfill her duty of protecting Earth. Idealism or not, Sailor Moon prevented us from making a grave mistake. Had we succeed in killing the girl before Saturn was awakened, we might have stopped the apocalypse. Or we might have made it worse because we killed the only savior.

I looked back at Sailor Moon and I gave her a grateful nod.


	17. Baby Hotaru

Chapter 17-Baby Hotaru

We made our way down slowly, through the remaining ruins. I held on to baby Hotaru tightly, afraid to let her go. Professor Tomoe's body was laying on top of one of the fallen pillars. I covered Hotaru's eyes as we walked past.

We went to a café afterward. Haruka was hungry and so was Hotaru. I needed a place to sit and think about what to do next.

The waitress was nice enough to run across the street and bought a baby bottle. Seeing how bruised we were, she took care of us without asking any questions. She filled up the bottle with warm milk and gave it to Hotaru.

"You guys look good together," Haruka said warmly. She reached over and held Hotaru's hand.

"She's an orphan now. She has nowhere to go. We could give her away, hope that she gets adopted by a nice family. Or…." I trailed off. Could we possibly do it? Could we be both parents and Sailor soldiers?

"We could raise her ourselves," Haruka finished my sentence. "I have never taken care of a baby before, so I will have to learn. Plus, we are the best-suited parents for her."

That was true. This baby was not ordinary. She was the rebirth of Sailor Saturn, the soldier of ruin. When the crisis hit Earth again, Hotaru would mature quickly and Sailor Saturn would be reawakened. I wanted to be there for her, to help her and to guide her. Plus, Haruka and I would protect her from evil until the end.

So that day, Haruka, Hotaru and I became a family. We moved out of our apartment and rented a house near the beach. Baby furniture was purchased. Books about how to take care of babies were bought. Our new mission was the baby.

Quickly, sleep deprivation became our number one enemy. "That baby eats like Usagi," Haruka complained one night. "And always in the middle of the night. I almost gave her a beer last night. I was so sleepy I thought the beer bottle was the baby bottle."

I almost choked on my black coffee. I made a mental note to move the beer out of the fridge later. "Haruka, maybe we need help? Between work and fighting and taking care of the baby, I am so tired. You have a race this Saturday and I have rehearsals all week next week." I put my head down on the table and sighed. I wished Setsuna was here.

Eventually, the lack of sleep started to affect our fighting. In one easy battle, against a simple monster, we almost got killed. At the last moment, Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter jumped out of nowhere and saved us.

"What are you guys doing here?" Asked Mercury.

"I sensed some evil so we came to investigate. I presume you guys are doing the same?"

Mercury and Jupiter looked at each other awkwardly and then smiled nervously. I shot Uranus a look.

Just then, a cry came from the baby monitor that was on Uranus's belt. "Time to go, Neptune. The baby is awake."

"Is that baby Hotaru?" Jupiter asked. "Can we come visit?"

We got home in seconds. Haruka's driving was unnecessary fast in the middle of the night. She ran into the house like the wind and she was already mixing the milk powder before I even take my shoes off.

I pushed the junk that was on the sofa to one side. Normally, I would be embarrassed at how messy the house looked, but I was beyond tired to even care. Makoto rolled up her sleeves and started cleaning. I protested. She looked at me and said, "It is clear you guys are overwhelmed by the baby. Let me help. Let us all help."

Ami came out of the room, holding a sleeping infant. Ami gently passed the baby to Makoto, and they both leaned against each other as they stared at Hotaru.

"You guys look good together," Haruka said. Ami and Makoto's faces blushed to their maximum.

So that night, we all sat and chat. We all took turns feeding the baby and soothing her back to sleep. Ami and Makoto became Hotaru's regular babysitters after that. We were finally able to spend some time alone.

The rest of the scouts eventually came to know the baby as well. Hotaru was loved and protected by everyone. Usagi and Chibiusa came and played with her, Ami read up on baby developments and bought "appropriately" advanced toys, Makoto made her meals and Minako called and sang to Hotaru every night. Haruka would drive the baby around at night, as it was the only way to get her to fall asleep. Rei and I stood guard and kept our senses open. Any approaching evil was quickly eliminated.

Baby Hotaru was Sailor Saturn after all. She might be the soldier of ruin in the future, but she was a baby now. That had attracted some attentions in the galaxy. When she released her power in Tau Nebula, destroying Pharoah 90, her power was sensed by others and desired by many. The scouts and we became allies finally.

There were a lot of monsters to fight that year but it was my happiest year yet. Hotaru brought all of us joy and she reunited the scouts. We spent Christmas together that year. Makoto and Minako put up a huge Christmas tree for us. Rei and Ami were starting a bonfire outside on the beach. Usagi and I had a rare moment to talk, just the two of us.

"I am glad everyone is happy. You and Haruka are good parents. Look at how happy the baby is?"

"We couldn't have done it without you guys. And you, especially you. Usagi, you went into the black hole with Hotaru. When the hole collapsed on itself, Hotaru would have been erased from existence. You went in and rescued our daughter. So, thank you, Princess."

"Hahaha," laughed Usagi. Oh, that contagious laugh of hers. I couldn't help but laugh with her. "Oh, Makoto's cookies are ready. I can smell it already." She grabbed my hands and ran toward the kitchen.

Makoto was feeding a tiny piece of cookie to Hotaru. That was her very first cookie, made by Auntie Jupiter. Hotaru clapped her hands in happiness and gestured for more. She had a sweet tooth, just like her Haruka-papa.

I wished Hotaru could grow up normally, but that wish was irrelevant when evil approached Earth again. One month and two days after her first birthday, her duty was called upon and Hotaru grew up over night.


	18. New Power

Chapter 18- New Power

One night, Haruka and I took Hotaru to the roof-top aquarium. It used to be our favorite date spot, and now it was our favorite family date spot. Hotaru was excited each and every time.

That night was just like any other night. The aquarium wasn't packed so Hotaru could see the tank from the stroller. People walked about, unaware of the doom that would soon descend on Earth once again. I thought I sensed something dark in the mirror earlier but it was gone. "Maybe it wasn't big enough to be captured by your mirror," teased Haruka.

As we walked out of the aquarium and entered the rooftop garden, the meteor shower started. Millions of stars fell through the dark sky. People slowed their pace and looked up at the stunning phenomenon. "It's beautiful," Haruka said as she put her arm on my shoulder. I smiled, even though I felt uneased by it. Why was it so many? Something didn't feel right about this meteor shower.

"Ouch!" "Something is in my eye." People around us were all saying the same thing. The ground was shimmering with tiny specks. I picked one up. It was glass.

Then, the tiny specks started to grow. Within seconds, monsters made out of glass surrounded the garden. People started fleeing and screaming. I quickly hid Hotaru in the bushes and I gestured her to be quiet. She looked at me with her all-knowing eyes, and she gave me a slight nod.

Pens out, Haruka and I transformed. We launched our attacks and watched the monsters crumbled into glass shards. Yet, as soon as they crumbled, each glass shard would grow into a new monster. Pretty soon, we were staring at a glass army. The more we killed, the more monsters we made.

"Neptune. This isn't working. What should we…." Before she could finish her sentence, one of the monsters body slammed into Uranus and sent her flying over the railings.

"Uranus!" I jumped over and I grabbed on to her hand. She was dangled in midair, 70 stories above the ground.

"Neptune. Behind you!" I used one hand and sent out a "deep submerge" to the army behind me. While they were reforming, I managed to pull Uranus back to safety.

"Dead scream." A familiar voice sounded in the dark. The rest of the army went down.

Shocked, we turned and saw Sailor Pluto smiling back at us. How was it possible? Her earthly body was destroyed in that helicopter explosion.

"It has been a long time. A thousand years to be exact. That was my punishment for stopping time," Pluto explained. "However, I saw dangerous twists in between time and space. I came back to help." Uranus walked over and gave Pluto a big hug.

Before I could join the happy reunion, a sharp cry came from behind the bushes. "Hotaru!" I turned and watched in horror as one of the monsters walked toward Hotaru. The three of us rushed over and was about to throw our attacks when we were knocked over by more monsters. _Thud!_ One monster landed squarely on my stomach and it dug its glass claws into my shoulders. I let out an involuntary scream. I grabbed the monster and flung it over my head, ripping its claws out of my body. Blood gushed from the wounds, but I did not feel any pain then. "Hotaru!"

Too late, I thought. The monster's claws were already slashing out, millimeters away from the baby's very exposed neck. Just then, Hotaru opened her eyes and the Saturn symbol appeared on her forehead. A blast of light shot forward and the monsters disintegrated. The energy continued to spread and it wiped out the enemy completely. Then, a warm light descended on us and new power coursed through our bodies. We were transformed into super sailor soldiers.

A small figure emerged from behind the bushes. My baby was no longer a baby. Hotaru, who appeared to be around 3, still wrapped in her baby blanket, spoke her first words.

"The revolution is coming. The princess will be in danger."


	19. The Crisis

Chapter 19-The Crisis

Hotaru walked up to us and held onto Haruka's hand. "Haruka-papa, let's go home."

Still shocked by the events that just unfolded, Haruka slowly nodded while she continued to stare at her little girl.

The four of us walked awkwardly back to the car. Setsuna pushed the empty baby stroller while Hotaru walked with Haruka. I walked behind all of them and I looked sadly at my baby. What was the crisis that woke her up early? If her power was called, then it could only mean one thing. The evil must be extremely powerful this time.

"Michiru-mama, can I not drink milk tonight? I don't like it."

"What?" I was surprised by how mundane her request was. I guess she was old enough now to tell me what she liked and did not like. "Are you hungry? What do you want to eat?"

"Noodles!" She said as she climbed into her baby seat in the car. "Hahaha, I don't fit anymore." She got out of the seat and climbed onto Setsuna's lap instead.

On the drive back, Hotaru chatted away like a normal toddler. "Ooh! what's that? What about that? What's that one called? How come it was darker than the other stars?" She fired the questions at Setsuna.

Haruka drove in silence, deep in thought. I looked over at my happy daughter and felt pain in my heart.

"What is your favorite food?" Hotaru continued to ask Setsuna.

"Tea!"

"That's not a food. That's a drink. Pick another one."

"Popsicle?" Setsuna said awkwardly.

"Okay. Michiru-mama, can we have popsicles instead of noodles? When we get home?"

I reluctantly agreed.

Three hours later, with the sugar rush worn off, Hotaru finally tired herself out and fell asleep. She looked huge, sleeping in her baby crib. I gave her a goodnight kiss. She still smelt like baby powder and milk. I turned off the baby monitor and put it away in a drawer. "Don't need that now," I thought. I gently closed the bedroom door and joined the others in the living room.

"I think Hotaru will age quickly for the next few days until she reaches adolescence. In order for Sailor Saturn's power to fully return, the body needs to be mature." Setsuna explained as she continued to stuff food in her mouth. "Sorry. I haven't eaten in a thousand years. I forgot how good food tasted."

"What did you see at the time gate?" Haruka asked.

"The image wasn't clear. All I know was that this crisis would change the future timeline significantly."

"We need to meet up with the rest of the scouts tomorrow," said Haruka. "Plus, we need to re-introduce our daughter to everyone."

So that night, we retired to our beds, burdened with our troubling thoughts. It was a sleepless night. When we did fell asleep, nightmares occupied our dreamscape. That night, I saw a vision. Sailor Moon was standing on the moon, wearing her new uniform with wings. Then, her body was slowly entrapped by thorny vines. Her head slumped over and her body was limp.

The next morning, Hotaru emerged from her bedroom and she was a few inches taller. She was wearing one of Haruka's t-shirts, looking adorable.

"Good morning, Michiru-mama. Good morning, Haruka-papa. Good morning, Setsuna-mama." Hotaru said as she climbed onto one of the dining chairs. "Are we going to see Chibiusa today? Will we see everyone?"

"Eat your breakfast and drink your milk. You are growing now, so you need to eat more." Haruka-papa used her stern voice and placed a plateful of food in front of Hotaru. Frowning, Hotaru stared at the milk. I couldn't help but smile a little inside. The all-powerful soldier of ruin is afraid of milk, I thought.

She raised the glass and chugged the milk in one breath. Then she took a giant bite of the eggs and swallowed it without chewing much. "Done! Now can we go?"

We called the scouts for a meeting at the temple. It seemed like they too were attacked by the glass monsters last night. It was never a good sign when coordinating attacks happened.

We stopped on the way there and quickly bought some new supplies for Hotaru. New shirts, skirts and pants suitable for children from the age of 4 to 12. Hotaru picked out her outfit for the day and changed in the car.

When we arrived, everyone was there already. Mamoru was playing with Chibiusa while the scouts were deep in discussion. They spotted Setsuna first and they all gasped in surprised.

Hotaru hid behind me, feeling shy all of a sudden. "And everyone, this is Hotaru." I pointed at the little girl.

Everyone's face changed from surprise to worry in an instant, except Chibiusa. Her face lit up and she ran towards Hotaru. "Hotaru-chan! You are almost my height now. Hahaha, come. Mamo-chan and I found an ant hole here." She grabbed Hotaru's hand and ran toward the trees.

All of a sudden, winds started to rustle and dark clouds settle in the sky. The sun was covered with dense clouds. Rei and I sensed it first. We shot each other a knowing glance.

Glass shards rained down all around us again, morphing into a new army of monsters. We all transformed and started to battle. The inner scouts and Tuxedo Mask stayed close to Sailor Moon while Pluto, Uranus and I formed the outer circle. We did pretty well for a while, but the sheer number of them was simply too overwhelming. Our powers waned and the enemy gained the upper hand. Eight scouts and one Tuxedo Mask, we were punched and thrown around like little puppets by the monsters.

An evil laugh roared and a dark figure appeared over us.

"Queen Nehelenia!" Sailor Moon's eyes widen with shock. This was the enemy they defeated last year, sealed away forever in the new moon.

Nehelenia narrowed her eyes and stared at Sailor Moon with palatable hatred. She raised her hand and threw the attack directly at the princess. Tuxedo Mask was the closest, so he threw himself in front of her and shielded her from the attack. Then, the energy wrapped itself around him and pulled him into a floating mirror.

"MAMO-CHAN!" screamed Sailor Moon, as Nehelenia made the mirror disappeared.

"Sailor moon! You have one day to save your beloved prince. If you don't reach me by the next dawn, his mind will be wiped completely." With those last words, Nehelenia disappeared again.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO! Come back, please. Come back." Sailor Moon pounded her fist into the ground repeatedly, sobbing uncontrollably.

Chibiusa and Hotaru emerged from behind the trees. I was glad they weren't here for that fight. What kind of mother would send her four-year-old daughter into battle? I limped over to my daughter and hugged her tightly. Her face was contorted into a serious expression as tears welled up in her eyes.

Just then, Chibiusa let out a surprised yelp. She was blinking in and out of existence. "What's happening?" she said fearfully.

Sailor Pluto, the guardian of time, figured it out pretty quickly. The threat against Tuxedo Mask was big enough to impact the future timeline. Chibiusa, the princess from the future, would be wiped from existence if Tuxedo Mask died.

Even more traumatized, Sailor Moon screamed out. It was painful to watch Usagi suffer like this.

Hotaru wiggled herself out of my embrace. "Saturn Planet Power Makeup!" She yelled.

A little sailor soldier emerged from the cocoon. She swung her scythe effortlessly, even though it was much taller than her. "Sailor Moon, it is time to wake up and reveal your true self." Saturn closed her eyes and sent forth the power.

A new transformation brooch appeared and Sailor Moon's old uniform disappeared. Two gorgeous wings grew out of her back and enclose her body in a protective casing. She emerged as Eternal Sailor Moon.

"This is your true form, Princess," Saturn explained. "I was woken early so I could give you the power. We need you, Princess, to protect the world again."

"I need to go save Mamo-chan." Sailor Moon said, with her head hung in sorrow. "I don't want to live without him. I don't want to live without Chibiusa."

"Wait. Let us go. You stay here with Chibiusa. Nehelenia is after you, so this must be a trap. Please! Let us do it." begged Uranus.

Sailor Moon looked at us, with tears in her eyes. Without another word, she spread her wings and soared into the sky. Sailor Mars dove at her, trying to stop her from taking off. Instead, she missed and landed face-first on the ground.

We watched, helplessly, as Sailor Moon disappeared. Our prince was kidnapped. Our princess was flying straight into an enemy trap. The crisis that would threaten the future was set in motion.


	20. The Healing

Chapter 20-The Healing

The inner scouts started to freak out. Sailor Mercury typed away on her computer, trying to pinpoint where Sailor Moon could go; Sailor Mars went inside and did a fire reading; Sailor Jupiter tried to stop Chibiusa from blinking by hugging her; Sailor Venus was talking out loud, trying to formulate a plan.

"Everyone, listen to me," said Saturn. "Let's go and save our prince and princesses."

"We don't know where Sailor Moon is, or where Nehelenia took Mamoru." Sailor Mercury replied.

 _Bam!_ Sailor Jupiter decided to take out her anger on a tree. "We can't just stand around and do nothing. Chibiusa is getting fainter and fainter. Usagi…Usagi needs us!"

"We can just use Sailor Teleport. If we keep our mind focused and think only of Sailor Moon, we should be able to land close to wherever she is. Right, Sailor Pluto?" Saturn looked up at Pluto, looking for confirmation.

How did she come to know this? I didn't even know that was possible. Uranus looked just as confused as I was. Pluto nodded slowly. "In theory, all scouts are linked psychically. If we all open our senses and focus on finding the princess, we should be able to sense her and then adjust our flight path."

"I am coming too. I want to save Usagi and Mamo-chan." Chibiusa raised her transformation pen and turned into Sailor Chibi-moon. Worried, we looked at the almost translucent Chibi-moon. Saturn went up to her and gave her a hug. "Chibiusa-chan, I remembered my past life. You were my first and only friend. You woke me up when I was trapped inside of Mistress Nine. So, let me save you now." Chibi-moon started blinking again but turning slightly more opaque now. That should buy us some time until we could find the princess, I thought.

We stood in a circle and joined hands. I cleared my mind and tried to focus. I recalled the warmth of Usagi, the brilliance of her power and her amazing ability to love. Then, I started sensing everyone's minds. The inner scouts were remembering their first time meeting Sailor Moon. They were very lonely people until Usagi entered their lives. Chibi-moon was remembering how Sailor Moon jumped off the flying circus in order to save her. Sailor Pluto was remembering how Usagi was willing to go to the Marine Cathedral to save us, even though she was unable to transform. Sailor Uranus was remembering how Usagi tried to wrestle the gun out of her hands so that Uranus couldn't sacrifice herself. Then I cried out loud as I saw Saturn's mind. She was remembering how Sailor Moon stood in front of her while Uranus and I were ready to kill her. She was also remembering how Sailor Moon followed into the alternate dimension and grabbed her before the implosion.

When all of our minds were linked, we could all sense Sailor Moon. She had entered another dimension created by Nehelenia. We levitated off the ground and shot straight toward our princess.

The world changed as we entered the dimension. It was pitch dark and silent. We kept flying in a teleport bubble and Sailor Mercury scanned the surrounding using her blue goggles. Uranus was the first to noticed a big clump of glass shards flying toward us. "Incoming. Hold on tight, everyone. Do not let go!"

Nehelenia must have seen us coming. The impact was too great and it separated everyone. When the circle broke, we could no longer fly and we all plunged into darkness….

"Neptune! Neptune! Neptune!"

Someone was screaming my name over and over while violently shaking me. I opened my eyes, just in time to see Sailor Mars getting ready to slap me.

"Oh thank God." Mars lowered her hand and helped me to my feet.

"Uranus? Saturn?" I looked around for my family. "Everyone?"

Mars shook her head, "It looks like it's just you and me, here in the jungle. If we didn't die from the fall, I think they would be okay too. Maybe they landed far from here."

The air was thick with evil and the forest was eerily quiet. So I pulled out my mirror and checked. "The mirror is telling us to go north for two miles." I turned to tell Mars.

"My reading said south!" Mars protested.

"My mirror is never wrong. Come on." I took off running, eager to find the others.

Mars tried to keep up with my running but she trailed behind. Over the years, Uranus had trained me well. I had become a faster runner and I was able to keep up with the soldier of wind.

"Nehelenia!" I halted as the enemy appeared in front of us. Then, a ring of purple fire engulfed us. Mars was flapping her hands up and down, trying to put out the imaginary fire. I smiled, realizing that it was an illusion.

"Deep submerge!" I threw an attack at the fake Nehelenia. The "fire" disappeared, along with the forest. Once again, we stood in a dark void. All of a sudden, something grabbed my legs and pulled. I fell and was dragged by Nehelenia.

"Mars Flame Sni…." Before Mars could finish her attack, Nehelenia raised me and used me as a shield.

"If you shoot, you will kill her." Nehelenia laughed. She then sent out three attacks, knocking Mars to the ground, hard.

I quickly realized at how dire the situation was. With me as a hostage, Mars could not attack. If Nehelenia kept up with her hits, Mars would be dead before she could reach the princess. I closed my eyes and said a silent sorry to Haruka and Hotaru.

"Just shoot, Mars!" I yelled at her. "Please, you have to save the princess." Angered, Nehelenia wrapped her hair around my body and squeezed. Once again, I could feel my ribs cracking under the pressure.

Mars' eyes widen in shock, then narrowed in determination. "MARS FLAME SNIPER!"

The burning arrow zipped past me and thrust into Nehelenia's heart. As it turned out, it wasn't Nehelenia but it was one of her puppet glass monsters. It disintegrated into nothing.

I sighed in relief. Sailor Mars' sniper skill was amazing. I gave her a grateful smile before I passed out.

When I regained my consciousness, my body was trapped in a mirror. Unable to move, unable to yell, I looked out the mirror at the horror that was unfolding. Sailor Moon was kneeling on the ground, holding a disappearing Chibi-moon. Her sorrowful cry echoed through the room as Chibi-moon was erased from existence.

"Are you filled with hatred now? I stole your love and now your child is gone. Oh, look behind you. All of your friends are here too!" Nehelenia gloated.

Sailor Moon turned and gasped! "Tuxedo Mask. Mercury. Mars. Jupiter. Venus. Neptune. Uranus. Pluto. Saturn…" I guess all the others were trapped in the mirrors as well. My heart sank as I realized Sailor Moon was alone in the battle. None of us could protect her now.

"It was all because of you. I watched you, princess, surrounded by friends and love. I was a princess too but I had to endure solitude. No one shared my happiness. No one cared about my sorrow." Nehelenia started ranting as she continued to throw attacks at Sailor Moon.

I watched in amazement as Sailor Moon stood up and looked at her with sympathy.

"Stop it! Stop looking at me with those eyes. I don't need your sympathy." Nehelenia grabbed Moon's neck and started choking her. "ARRRGH!" She then threw Moon across the room in frustration.

"I can never live in solitude. I am not strong. So, please give me back my friends. You can take revenge on me. But give me back my friends. Don't worry, everyone will understand and they will become your friends." With that, Sailor Moon spread out her arms and closed her eyes.

I could feel Sailor Moon's mind joining everyone's minds. She was remembering why she loved each and every one of us. The familiar glow radiated out of her and shattered everyone's mirrors. Sailor Chibimoon reappeared.

"How is this possible? No! My curse is broken. You guys will all hate me. You must hate me!" Nehelenia screamed incoherently.

"Everyone, lend me your powers." Thought Sailor Moon. "Let's heal Nehelenia and give her a second chance."

She turned and said gently to Nehelenia, "You can start over. Please recall your true dream when you were a child. Atone your sins and have courage. Believe in yourself and believe in us!"

"Can I really start over?" Warm light washed over Nehelenia and her face softened. From her eyes, her hatred was gone. A glimmer of hope shined through. "I wanted to have friends and be loved." Nehelenia closed her eyes and light carried her up to the sky.

I held onto Uranus and Saturn's hands and watched Nehelenia turned back into a child, before disappearing to the moon.

We all ran to catch Sailor Moon as she collapsed. She had used up all of her energy so that she could heal her enemy. We gently carried her in our teleport bubble and safely returned her home. I watched as Saturn used her healing power on Usagi.

Slowly, our princess came to. "Thank you, everyone," Usagi smiled warmly at us. Chibiusa and Hotaru jumped into her arms, delighted.

Another victory. Another crisis averted! Rei and I tried to ignore the unease we felt still and tried to enjoy the moment. We could sense another great evil heading towards Earth still. Whatever was coming, it wouldn't be easy. Deep in thought, I trailed behind as everyone left the room to go to the kitchen. Usagi was happily telling Makoto what she wanted to eat.

Sometimes I wished it would all stop. After all the battles, all of our personal sacrifices, everyone must be feeling tired too. Yet, if I wasn't re-awaken as Sailor Neptune, I wouldn't have met Haruka, or Hotaru, or the rest of the scouts. And if I haven't met Usagi, would my guilt eventually consumed me?

In a way, Sailor Moon had healed me. Up till last year, I was still feeling guilty about all the people I killed and all the people I would kill in the future. Her unconditional love allowed me to make peace with myself and to forgive myself. Once, she told me how she almost killed Mamoru because she thought it was the only way. Luckily it didn't work because Mamoru was protected by dark energy at the time. Ever since then, she would try to use the power of love and healing before resorting to killing.

"Thank you, Sailor Moon, for healing me. Thank you, Sailor Moon, for healing the rest of the scouts, as they too owe their lives to you in one way or another." I said silently as I watched Usagi stuffed her tenth rice ball into her mouth.


	21. The Family

Chapter 21-The Family

So much had changed in the month after the battle with Nehelenia. Mamoru was invited to attend an American University. Usagi bravely urged him to follow his dream, even though her heart was shattered at the thought of the long time separation. To made things worse, Chibiusa had to return to the 30th century. When that news broke, Hotaru spent the night crying.

Hotaru went to their house for a sleepover the night before Chibiusa left. Usagi said they spent the night locked in their room, talking. When she peeked in later, they were asleep while cuddling each other. When Haruka picked her up the next morning, her eyes were red and puffy.

Ever since then, the scouts and I had a new mission. We would do our best to keep Usagi and Hotaru happy.

Spring finally arrived and it was the annual cherry blossom festival. Minako suggested that we all take the train together and we could have a picnic beside the Meguro River. Mako and Ami quickly volunteered that they would make the food. Hotaru sulked in her room, complained that it just wasn't the same without Chibiusa. When both Haruka and I failed at convincing her, Setsuna-mama took over the job. After an hour behind closed doors, Hotaru emerged with a faint smile on her face. She picked up the phone and called Mako.

"Mako-chan, don't put cucumbers in the sandwiches. I am coming to the picnic. I don't like cucumbers anymore."

"How did you do it, Setsuna?" Haruka asked.

"I promised her that when the time was right, I would bring her to the time gate so that she could meet up with Chibiusa in the future." Setsuna shook her head as she explained. "It is against the rules and it is not against the rules. I think if I take her as Sailor Saturn, maybe it will be okay."

She glanced over at Hotaru. "I would do anything to make that little one happy."

On Sunday, while we were still sleeping, Hotaru jumped into our bed and startled the both of us. I glanced at the clock and it said 6:00 a.m.

"Wake up, papa. Wake up, mama." She squeezed herself between us and pulled the blanket up to her chin. "I have a question."

"What is it?" Mumbled a very sleepy Haruka.

"How old am I now? And if I travel to the future, would I age even more? What if I get too old for Chibiusa?" Seeing how Haruka was falling asleep again, she took my hand and used it to tap on Haruka's forehead. I laughed out loud at how annoyed they both looked. They weren't related by blood but they sure looked and behaved the same sometimes.

"Mama, what do you think?" She turned to me instead, giving up on waking Haruka.

I stroke her beautiful purple hair and I told her I didn't know the answer to that question. Her aging was accelerated when Nehelenia threatened all of us. Since then, her growth had slowed down. She looked like she was about 6 or 7 now; but intellectually, she was already studying Grade 6 materials. Ami and Setsuna had become her full-time teachers, recognizing that traditional schools could not keep up with Hotaru's intellectual growth. Plus, we couldn't explain her faster than normal aging process as well.

Unsatisfied with the answer, Hotaru frowned and sighed. She then nuzzled her head closer and wrapped her tiny arms around me. "Okay, I will ask Setsuna-mama later." She drifted off to sleep again, snoring lightly, in sync with Haruka's snores.

I looked at my two favorite people sleeping next to me and felt warm all over. I reached over and set the alarm to nine instead of eight. We would be late but that's okay. I just wanted to watch them sleep.

 _Ring ring._ Hotaru jumped out of my embrace at the sound of the alarm clock. "Time to go, time to go", she yelled as she continued to jump on the bed. Annoyed, Haruka flung the blanket over her head. "World shaking, world shaking, world shaking," Hotaru continued to jump while yelling out Papa's attack jokingly.

"Silence Wall. The blanket is my silence wall. You can't hurt me." Haruka said under the blanket.

I went to the washroom and wet my hands. "Deep Submerge." I sprinkled water on both of them.

Haruka poked her head out, looked at Hotaru. Then they both turned and looked at me sheepishly. "One…..Two…..Three….." They both lunged at me and pushed me back in bed. We giggled so hard that tears were running down our faces.

Two hours later, we finally made it out of the house. Hotaru "accidentally" spilled her milk, so she spent the next hour changing. She wanted an outfit that would make her look "normal". "Will there be other kids at the park? Maybe I can make new friends. They won't be as important as Chibiusa of course. But until then, maybe I can have someone to play with?" Hotaru asked as she picked out another outfit. Sighing internally, I assured her that she would make friends in no time. We would enroll her in a normal school when her growing spurt stops. That way she could have some normal social interactions.

The park was packed by the time we got there. People lay on their blankets and enjoying the warm weather. There was a marching band playing on the opposite of the park and cheerful music filled the atmosphere. Hotaru held on to Haruka and my hands, timid and overwhelmed by the crowd.

Her face relaxed when she saw Usagi and she dashed toward the princess. By the time we got there, Hotaru was happily chomping on a very, very big rice ball. "Usagi made this for me. It's falling apart but it tastes really good. What did you call this again?"

"Courage ball. If you eat this, your courage and power will increase tenfold." Usagi explained.

"Amazing!" Hotaru stuffed the rest of the very, very big rice ball into her mouth. We all laughed. She was a kid at heart, after all.

So, in one sunny afternoon, nine sailor soldiers had the most amazing and mundane picnic. There was no evil. There were no monsters. We all forgot, just for a moment, that we had the weight of the world on our shoulders.

Mina brought a volleyball and we had a game of Inner vs Outers. Usagi volunteered to join us, reasoning that it was unfair to have three adults and one kid on one team. The very competitive Haruka groaned, muttering that now we had two kids on the team. Sure enough, the ball landed squarely on Usagi's face every single time. The game went on for a while until everyone got tired. Except Mina and Haruka. They challenged each other to a single match and the game dragged on for another hour. I chuckled as I watched both of them panting with exhaustion but still determined not to back down. Mina's serve was amazing and deadly accurate. Haruka was fast and was able to return every single serve.

At first, everyone was amused. The game even drew some spectators. As the game dragged on, the crowd thinned and we lost interest. So the rest of us decided to take a stroll along the river. Dusk was approaching and the light posts were turned on. The glow of the light and the falling flowers made the park even more beautiful. Hotaru walked among us, happily holding on to my hand and Usagi's hand. I could feel the sadness that was always in Hotaru lifted a bit. For today at least, she was a normal six-year-old girl hanging out with her very big family.

Finally, night descended and it was time to go home. We packed up our stuff and went to get Mina and Haruka. No one lost and it was tied at zero. The poor volleyball was so deflated by the end. A very sweaty, stinky Haruka came up to me and gave me a kiss.

We reluctantly said goodbye to Usagi, Ami, Mako, Rei and Mina.

Hotaru was silent on the way home, deep in thought. I picked her up and carried her for the rest of the way. Even though she was getting too tall for this, and too heavy for this, I didn't want to let her go. My daughter grew up way too quick and she had already seen so much sorrow already. I patted her on her back and promised to do this with her every year.

Once a year, the sailor family would get together and go see cherry blossoms.

"Promise?" Hotaru asked hopefully. "And Chibiusa too?"

"I promise."


	22. Shooting Stars

Chapter 22-Shooting Stars

One day, three new Sailor senshi arrived on Earth. With them, the greatest evil landed and seized the world in her hands. The storm arrived silently.

It was an ordinary night. Haruka and I went out on a date while Setsuna stayed home and babysat Hotaru. We went out for dinner and just cruised around in her car for hours. I remembered the sky was clear and how bright the moon shone that night.

Haruka sensed it first this time and slammed her foot on the brake. Dark energy was dispersing in the middle an empty playground. We transformed and ran to investigate. Someone moved inside a black telephone booth and disappeared. A woman, half kneeling in the sand, had a black diamond floating above her forehead. "Hideko Iwasaki!" I yelled as I recognized the woman. She was the next promising star in the Olympic swimming team.

The diamond started to disperse energy and Hideko-san was swallowed by black, thorny vines.

"Sailor Swimmer!" A monster emerged from the fold, complete with fish gills and fins. I gave the scouts a quick call while Uranus was throwing her attacks.

All of a sudden, the playground turned into a pool. The monster/giant fish dodged the attacks and slammed hard into Uranus. I started swimming toward it. "Wave attack!" The monster sent a tsunami after me. I took a big breath and braced myself for the impact. The undercurrent towed me down and continued to suck me downwards. How was this possible? The sandpit was only as deep as my ankles.

Then the water disappeared. The fish grew back its hands and legs. Before I could get my bearings, it ran toward me at top speed and grabbed my arms. The water reappeared and it continued to push me toward the depth. It was surprisingly strong. I sent out one shot of "deep submerge", but it fizzled into bubbles. The fish looked at me and grinned. My lungs started to burn, as I struggled to stay conscious.

"Star Serious Laser!" An unfamiliar voice called out and hit the fish, freeing its grasp. The water disappeared. I bent over coughing and gasping for breaths.

"Uranus!" An unconscious, bleeding Uranus lay over the edge of the sandpit. I raced over and checked her pulse. She was okay but badly concussed.

"Who are you?" I turned to see three tall figures.

"Penetrating the darkness of night. Streaking through the atmosphere. Resounding truth, we are three Sailor Starlights. Sailor Fighter, Sailor Maker, Sailor Healer. Now get out of our way. That phage needs to be taken care of."

"Wait. She was a human."

"Once the star seed is taken out and the human is turned into a phage, they cannot be saved. Now get out of my way." The leader of the group ordered.

"Bubble spray!" A thick fog enveloped the playground and the scouts landed, surrounding the Sailor Starlights. "Now, Sailor Moon," Mercury commanded.

Sailor Moon happily obliged. She turned the phage back into Hideko-san. She then turned toward us and gently approached the three strangers.

"Sorry, we arrived late. Thank you for saving Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus." Moon reached out her hand and smiled warmly at them. Worried, the scouts stepped closer to her, ready to block any attacks if this was a trap.

The leader didn't take Sailor Moon's hand. Instead, she coldly replied, "I hope we are not enemies." With that, they turned and left without another word.

Later that night, Ami and Mako helped me get Haruka home. I managed to drive us back in Haruka's car. Ami checked out her wounds and bandaged them. Haruka woke up that night and threw up. Usually graceful, she stumbled on every single step as she made her way to the bathroom. Hotaru offered to heal her but Haruka refused. Without knowing what the cost was for using healing powers, we forbade Hotaru from using it unless it was absolutely necessary.

The scouts came over the next day for a meeting. Usagi was downcast and worried. She recounted that it wasn't the first time she ran into them. She had fought a phage on her own and the Sailor starfighters had saved her too. Yet, they were willing to kill the human host and Sailor Moon had to stop them.

"How long ago was this, Usagi?" Furious, Rei interrogated. Apparently, she kept that as a secret from everyone.

"I just don't think they are bad. They saved me. They saved Michiru and Haruka last night. Maybe if we could just talk to them and let them know I can heal the phages."

"They are not from this solar system." Setsuna cut in. "In a sense, this is an invasion. They have no jurisdiction fighting here. We don't know their intentions. With those powers, they could do some serious damage."

Usagi looked so discouraged at that moment.

"I am sorry, Usagi. It is our job to protect you and to protect the world from outside intruders. Until we know more, we can't trust them." A very weak Haruka stumbled out of the bedroom. Hotaru was holding on to her and she looked at me apologetically. I asked her to make sure Papa stayed in bed. I guess Haruka was more stubborn.

Usagi rushed over to help. "Haruka-chan, go back to bed, please. Michiru-chan will be mad." She sent me a quick wink, followed by her usual laugh.

Her laughter eased the tension that was building in the room. She turned and addressed the rest of us. "Everyone, thank you. Thank you for looking out for me. I am sure they are friends. You will see." She flashed her warmest smile and patted Haruka gently on the back. Then she forcefully dragged Haruka back to bed, all the while saying, "I am the princess. You should listen to me. Do you know what happens when you don't listen to your princess? You will get very sick and then you can't fight anymore….."


	23. The Frienemies

Chapter 23-The Frienemies

I was invited one day to play a joint concert with a new boyband called Three Lights. I didn't know much about them, except that they became very popular in a very short amount of time. With their charming looks and catchy tunes, Seiya, Taiki and Yaten charmed the hearts of many young girls. Including the rest of the scouts, as I later found out.

The sponsor gave me a stack of tickets and wanted me to invite all my family and friends. I randomly mentioned to one of the girls that I had tickets to the Three Lights concert and within seconds, I had the five scouts ringing my doorbell. It was rare and kind of nice to see the girls behave their age. They jumped and cheered with joy when they realized the seats were front rows.

After a week of rehearsals with the New Orchestra Tokyo and a few run-throughs with the boyband, I was ready. It had been a while since I had a major performance. When I started playing with the orchestra, I opted for second chair violin instead of first chair. The conductor was perplexed, but I couldn't explain that the first chair might disappear from time to time if evil was here. It was also weird to see my face plastered on posters everywhere in Tokyo. "Joint Concert-Kaoih Michiru and Three Lights!" Haruka joked that she was getting tired of seeing my face. Needless to say, I did not touch her gently that night.

I got the usual buzz just before the concert. I tuned and retuned my violin in my dressing room, and then again with the orchestra. Something felt different, that one warm summer night. Excitements from the fans aside, I sensed some unusual energy.

"Let's give a warm welcome to our special guest of the night-Kaoih Michiru." On cue, I stepped out on stage. I scanned the crowd and quickly found my people. Haruka, Ami, Mako, Rei, Mina….Where was Usagi? I dismissed my worry when the music started. I closed my eyes and let the melody took over my body. Images of my mom playing flashed through my head. I smiled sadly, wishing that she was here to see me perform again. "Mom, I didn't give up. Music is still my life. Mom, can you hear me?" I wrapped that message in my music and sent it out.

Halfway through the song, I felt that strange energy radiating again. I concentrated on it and immediately found the source. It was radiating out of the three guys. "Who are they?" I thought. They were not ordinary guys. Just then, I caught Seiya, the lead singer, staring at me strangely.

I retreated to my dressing room after, troubled by what I picked up. It wasn't evil I sensed. It wasn't anything I've ever sensed before either. My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

It was Seiya. He came in and congratulated me on the good performance. I felt his intention right away. "To be honest, I am always a fan of yours," as he said it, he took an exaggerated bow.

"Oh. I didn't know you listen to classics." I decided to play along. If he wanted to flirt to get information, I could certainly do that too. "But let's keep that a secret from your fans. If they know you like me, I don't know what they will do to me."

"You are mysterious." Seiya blushed and laughed uncomfortably. He regained his coolness and leaned in closer. "I want to know more about you."

I could hear Haruka's footsteps outside the door. I decided to take things to the next level, just so I could see that adorable jealous face of hers. I stood up, lifted my hair slowly and said to Seiya, "Do you want to help me change?"

Right on cue, the door opened and Haruka stepped in. Startled, Seiya took a giant step back. "Ah, this is Haruka, my life long partner," I said with a straight face, even though I was laughing inside.

"Michiru, you are bad natured," Seiya smiled in defeat. "Hi, nice to meet you. I am Seiya Kou." He reached his hand out.

"I am Tenou Haruka. "Nice" to meet you." When their hands touched, Haruka's face changed. She sensed that weird energy too.

Seiya was quiet after that. He left without saying another word, but he turned and looked at us again. Something was very weird with this whole situation.

Just then, our communicators beeped. "Everyone, I need your help. Some old guy got his star seed taken out. I am heading there now. Come to the stage," said Usagi.

"Shit. The scouts just left. Come on, Michiru." Haruka raced out of the dressing room.

As we got closer, we could hear the battle sounds. Then, Sailor Moon's scream pierced through the quiet night. When we arrived, Sailor Moon was pinned to the wall and passed out. The Sailor Starfighters were standing on the stage, walking toward the unconscious princess.

"World shaking!" Sailor Star Healer and Sailor Star Maker were hit and knocked out. Sailor Star Fighter leapt out of range at the last second, shocked by the attack. Before I could stop the impulsive Uranus, she was throwing out two more attacks already. Star Fighter kept dodging but she did not attack.

"Stop! Stop! Please stop!" Sailor Moon woke and was screaming at the top of her lungs. I raced over to unpin her from the wall while doing a quick check over for injuries. As soon as she was free, she raced over and stood in front of the three strangers. "Please, Uranus. They tried to save me again. They didn't attack me. The phage did."

 _Zing!_ A sharp piano wire flew across the stage and grazed Sailor Moon's arm. The phage was still alive! Before we could react, ten more wires were heading straight toward the princess. Amazingly, Star Fighter dove and pushed Sailor Moon out of the way.

"Deep Submerge!" I slammed the phage away before it could do any damage. One wire went through Star Fighter's shin. Uranus and I stood, temporarily shocked. Sailor Moon knelt beside her, crying.

"Now, Sailor Moon." We had to heal the phage before it attacks again. Sailor Moon stood and did what she was told. Her face was wearing a different expression, one that we rarely see. Anger.

"I was attacked by that phage. It pinned me to the wall, not the Sailor Starlights! There wasn't enough time, so they chose to transform in front of me in order to save me. If that wasn't trust, I don't know what was." She lifted Star Fighter's hand gently and placed it on her heart. "Thank you, Seiya. Now that you revealed your true self, it is only fair I do so too. I am…."

"SAILOR MOON!" Uranus's angry voice interrupted the princess. I agreed with Haruka at this point. It was better that we knew more about them, but we didn't need to risk revealing Usagi's identity.

With tears in her eyes, Sailor Moon looked at us, angrily. Then her eyes soften. She let go of Seiya's hand and walked over to us. I put my arms around her and tried my best to comfort her. "Please take care of Seiya." She said to the other two sailors. Defeated, the princess allowed us to escort her back to safety.

I tried to explain to Usagi why we did what we did. Uranus did overreact a bit but from our viewpoint, it did look like they attacked Usagi and was about to finish the job. We did not see the phage that was knocked off the stage.

"She is Seiya! She is Seiya!" She kept muttering that over and over, incoherently.

I sighed and felt guilty at how sad we made our princess. Sometimes, we had to do what was necessary. Sometimes, we had to make the difficult decisions. They weren't always right but we weren't perfect.

"So the boyband was just a disguise. They were all Sailors." Haruka was thinking out loud. I signaled her to stop, as Usagi started to cry again. I didn't know how else to comfort her. I knew she knew Seiya, Taiki and Yaten personally. She told me they just transferred to her school two months ago and she had developed a close relationship with them, especially Seiya.

Usagi said a quiet "thank you" to us before heading into her house. Seeing how sad Usagi was, Haruka punched the steering wheel in frustration. "I am not wrong. I don't trust those guys!"

I nodded and agreed. At best, they were frienemies, as we were both fighting the same enemy. However, we had to deal with the fact that they were not from this solar system. Also, why did they and the enemies appeared at the same time? The enemies that had been turning innocent people into phages were calling themselves Sailors too. Usagi's pureness was her greatest strength, but it was also her greatest weakness that could be exploited easily.

That night, Setsuna, Haruka and I had our own private meeting. Once again, we decided to separate us from the inner scouts. They are loyal to Usagi, almost to a fault. If we had to be the bad guys and be the voice of reason, then so be it. We would do anything in order to keep our princess safe. Anything!


	24. Chibi Chibi

Chapter 24-Chibi Chibi

 _ **A.N.**_ _At this point, Mamoru is already "dead" with his star seed taken out. Slowly Chibiusa was erased from the timeline. Status of Crystal Tokyo unknown…_

One day, a mysterious child dropped from the sky. With bright red hair and two pigtails, she looked a lot like Usagi. Her arrival triggered something unexpected.

I was out shopping with Hotaru that day. Setsuna was out of town, investigating the origins of all the sailors arriving on Earth. Haruka was away on business, competing in the Japanese Touring Car Championship. It was just the two of us.

While at the Azabu Juban Shopping Town, we ran into a very panicky Usagi. She was looking around, frantically calling someone named "Chibi Chibi". Usagi's mom was also there, looking just as worried. Seeing us, Usagi ran toward us and asked if we have seen her little sister, Chibi Chibi.

For as long as I had known Usagi, I have never heard of a younger sister. What was going on? I didn't know how to respond to that, so I asked Usagi what was Chibi Chibi wearing.

"She's about this tall," Usagi gestured, "and she was wearing a white shirt with a huge red bow. Oh and blue skirt. Wait, you haven't met my little sister yet. Just imagine me tiny, red hair instead of blonde hair, and my odango was shaped like a heart."

None of that made any sense until a very small child appeared behind Hotaru. She looked to be about two years old, at most. Usagi picked her up and formally introduced her to us. Usagi's mom came over and took the child while crying with relief at finding her lost child.

Once her mom was out of earshot, Usagi said we need to have another scouts meeting. "It's about Chibi Chibi. Anyway, my mom is calling. I will see you guys later."

Later that night, Hotaru and I went over to Rei's temple and met up with the rest of the scouts. They were already deep in discussion. Apparently, I wasn't the only one that had just met Chibi Chibi. The scouts knew Usagi longer than me and they had no idea. Usagi arrived late and she sat down without saying anything. Rei and Mina were firing questions at her, but she stayed silent.

Finally, she took a deep breath and sighed. "I don't know who she is. I found her wandering alone, in the streets yesterday but before I could take her to the police, she disappeared. When I got home, she was sitting with my parents, watching TV. I don't know how she did this, or if she did this, but she changed the memories of my entire family. They all think she was their youngest child. Freaked out, I pulled out the photo albums. I wanted to prove to them that it was all trickery…..All the photos had her in them. Our family shots. Her baby pictures. Me holding her when she was just a baby. All the photos were changed. My parents thought I must have hit my head or something. I quickly changed my tune and told them I was just joking with them…"

"Something is very strange here. I just searched through the hospital records. There was no birth certificate for Chibi Chibi. If she had used magic to change people's memories, she only did it to your family. And you weren't affected because you had powers yourself." The ever resourceful Ami offered an explanation.

Everyone fell into silence after that. I pulled out my mirror to see if any new evil had arrived and I came up with nothing. Rei said she did a fire reading earlier and there was nothing too.

Mina stood up suddenly, almost flipping the table. "Does anybody feel like we have gone through this once already? When we were battling the Wiseman. I feel a sense of Déjà vu." Everyone started to nod, slowly. "Michiru, the Wiseman battle happened one year before we met you."

"Then this is getting stranger and stranger. I didn't feel a sense of Déjà vu, but I felt like I had forgotten someone important." I said to the scouts. Sitting beside me, Hotaru gasped.

"Me too, mama. I feel like I have forgotten someone. When I saw Chibi Chibi today, I felt really sad. I didn't understand it. But…I don't remember. I thought maybe it was someone from my past life that I had forgotten. Now, I am pretty sure it is someone from this life that I had forgotten." Tears started to well up in Hotaru's eyes. "Mama, how could I forget? How could we all forget?"

As I tried to comfort Hotaru, I could feel a cloud of gloom overcasting the room. Usagi looked like she was about to cry too.

"Michiru, why don't you take Hotaru home first? It is getting late. Usagi, you too. You need to go home and keep an eye on your family and Chibi Chibi. Mako, Rei, Mina and I will stay behind and go through the records. The computer just came out with some analysis. Thanks to the hair sample you provided." Ami patted Usagi's back gently. "Now I just need one more thing before you go." She said as she plucked a few hair from Usagi.

That night, I slept in Hotaru's room. The two of us squeezed into a tiny kid's bed and I gently soothed her to sleep. I didn't sleep much that night. Hotaru kept waking up from her nightmares. Each time, I would sing her back to slumber, only to have her wake again. And again. The long night dragged on until dawn.

When I woke, Hotaru was not in bed anymore. Figured she must be watching TV in the living room, I went to look for her there. I stopped and had to do a double-take, when I saw a pink-hair girl sitting on the couch, with her back facing me. Two pigtails. Ridiculously pink hair.

"Good morning, Mama." Hotaru turned and smiled awkwardly.

"What. Did. You. Do. To. Your. Hair?" I went to the trash can and found an empty box of temporary hair coloring. I bought it last year for Halloween when I wanted to dress up as someone. I didn't remember who anymore but it wasn't important.

"I saw her in my dream last night. The girl we all forgot. She had two pigtails and she had pink hair. Her favorite color was pink. I think we were very good friends…."

I knelt down and looked at my daughter. She did a horrible job of dying her hair. She had also accidentally dyed half her forehead and all of her fingers. I saw a trail of pink footprints coming out of the washroom.

"I am sorry, Mama." Following my gaze, she just realized the mess she made.

I pulled her into my embrace and I stroke her new pink hair. "It's okay, Hotaru. This is your way of trying to remember, isn't it?" She nodded against my shoulder. A slight tremble from her body betrayed the fact that she was crying again.

My sense told me that the forgotten girl was an integral part of our Sailor senshi family. Hotaru said the girl was about her age. Did we have another kid fighting with us? What happened to her? Chibi Chibi's power seemed to be able to alter people's memories. Did she have something to do with this?

That night, Haruka came back to a pink-haired daughter and a pink-haired wife. To make Hotaru feel better, I went out and bought more hair dye. I let her color my hair and pull my hair into two pigtails. We looked ridiculous but I was finally able to see some smiles on my daughter's face.

The next morning, Ami informed us of the results. "Good news, Chibi Chibi is not Usagi's child. Bad news, her DNA was almost identical to Usagi's. She was mostly human but there were some anomalies in her chromosomes."

Whoever she was, she had inserted herself into the middle of our Sailor family. Usagi carried her everywhere, fiercely protective of her. We all eventually came to get used to her, as we all felt that familiar warmth radiating out of Chibi Chibi. She did remind us a lot of our princess.


	25. The Princesses

Chapter 25-The Princesses

One day, while Uranus, Pluto and I were out patrolling, the Sailor Starlights showed up to talk to us. Lately, Hotaru had been spending a lot of time staying over at Usagi's and playing with Chibi Chibi. We were glad the princess was occupied and she wasn't here for this.

Seiya, the leader of the group, cut to the chase quickly. "We have our mission here on Earth. If you guys ever get in our way again, we wouldn't hesitate to fight you."

"We don't care what your mission is. If it affects the safety of Earth and our princess, then we will go against Sailor Moon's wishes and eliminate you." Sailor Pluto said and raised her Garnet Orb to make her point.

"Well, for Sailor Moon's sake, let's hope we don't kill each other then." The threat hung in the air as they turned and left.

Once we were back home, Setsuna made a decision. She would leave Earth for a while and she would go check out the time gate. "I have an uneasy feeling. I could feel the timeline changing. I need to go check on Small Lady also."

"Who is Small Lady?" Haruka asked.

Blood drained from Setsuna's face when she heard Haruka. "I will be right back! While I am gone, keep an eye out on the new girl that just arrived. Something is wrong. Something is terribly wrong!" With that, Setsuna teleported herself out, right in the middle of our kitchen. "Thanks, Setsuna," said Haruka annoyingly as she noticed the crack on the kitchen floor.

I slumped down on the couch and cuddled up to Haruka. Once again, the house was empty and quiet except the two of us. I put my head on her chest and listened to her heartbeat. "Huh, so what is my heart saying?" Haruka asked. "It is telling us to stay strong. But…." I trailed off, conflicted with my own thoughts.

Haruka grabbed my hands and looked me in the eyes. "If I have to give up my soul in order to save Sailor Moon and the world, I would."

"What about me and Hotaru?"I said teasingly. I knew that if things got bad, chances were we would all be in grave danger. However, as Sailor Senshi, we had to make all the hard decisions. If we had to sacrifice our family in order to save the world, we would. Hotaru would understand.

"Have you not learn anything from the Talisman ordeal?" Usagi's voice popped in my head. I imaged she would say exactly that if she heard my thoughts just now. Yes, we did learn. We learned that sacrificing innocent lives wasn't always the only way. But sometimes, it might be.

The next day, Usagi called us. She sounded like her normal self again and was happily telling us about their school festival. "Our class is organizing a coffee shop, and all the money we earn will go toward the charity of our choosing. You guys should come! Mako-chan is making her famous cake."

We were about to say "yes" when Usagi added, "I have also invited Seiya….."

Sensing our reluctance, she begged us not to worry. "Seiya doesn't know who I am, or who you guys are. Even though we knew her true identity. Look, I am Usagi tomorrow. I am not Sailor Moon. Usagi wants to be friends with Seiya. Usagi isn't the princess. Usagi is just a normal high school girl that wants to share her cake with her new best friend, okay?"

We agreed to go. It would be easier to protect her if we were there too. "And guys, be nice to Seiya," Usagi said before she hung up.

So we went to Usagi's festival the next day. Hotaru wanted to come but we told her to stay home. Lately, we had been excluding her from Sailor duties. The storm was brewing and we were trying to shield her from it as much as possible.

When we arrived, Usagi in a maid costume dragged us to a "table". She set down the menu and asked us to order.

"We will have two cups of coffee," Haruka said. Usagi stared at Haruka and then coughed out the words " _Charity!_ " Haruka blushed and ordered three more pieces of cake. Nodding in approval, Usagi wrote down our orders.

"Hey, Odango!" Seiya walked into the classroom and sweetly patted Usagi on the head. Both Haruka and I caught that gesture and we realized this was more complicated than we thought. Seiya had a crush on Usagi.

"Seiya, you know Michiru and Haruka from the concert, right? Why don't you guys share a table?" Before any of us could protest, Usagi shoved Seiya into the empty seat next to Haruka. When Usagi left to get us the cakes, Seiya's eyes lingered on the princess. Love and adoration practically screamed from his eyes.

"So, Seiya. You sure flirt with a lot of women. First with me, now with Usagi…"I said pointedly.

His face went red.

"So Seiya…do you like women that are not available? First with my partner, then with Usagi. Or did you not know Usagi has a boyfriend already?" Haruka added.

"Yeah, except Usagi's boyfriend needs to be beaten up! Did you know that Usagi had been writing every day since he left? He didn't even reply once. Did you know Usagi runs home every day after school just so that she could check her mailbox? This may be one sided, but I love…." He stopped halfway when he saw Usagi approaching with our food.

"That will be 500 yen …for each slice. So three slices, that means 1200 yen. And you are paying." Usagi placed the bill in front of Haruka. She smiled sweetly at Seiya and gave him one of our pieces. Haruka was practically fuming at this point.

I was still shocked to hear Seiya said that Mamoru had not been in touch with Usagi. Even more shocking was that Usagi didn't tell us or any of the scouts. She confided in Seiya. Their bond must be deeper than I thought.

"Oh, Michiru. Can you keep an eye on Chibi Chibi for a while? Mako-chan needed some help in the kitchen. Thanks." Usagi shoved the little child onto my lap and ran out of the classroom. I have never held her before, but as soon as I touched her, I felt a massive star energy radiating out of her.

Seiya gasped and he stood up all of a sudden. Then he leaned in closer to Chibi Chibi. I guess he sensed the star energy as well. "Can I hold her for a second?" Seiya asked. Wanting to see what he was getting at, I handed the child over to him.

He was looking at the kid intensely. Then, to our surprises, tears started to well up in his eyes. "Princess?" he muttered. When he realized we were watching him, he gave a nervous laugh and tried to explain his way out of it. "Haha, she is so cute. Doesn't she look like a princess?"

Just then, the school PA system came on. "Tsukino Usagi! Tsukino Usagi! If you are in the building, please come to the school yard." Seiya handed the child back to me and said he had to leave. We too sensed the massive evil energy that surrounded the school just now.

We asked one of the classmates to look after Chibi Chibi and then we ran toward the yard. On the way, we ran into the other scouts and we all transformed.

Sailor Lead Crow, one of the evil sailors, was holding a weird tube in her hand. "Tsukino Usagi. No. Sailor Moon. Do you know what this is?"

We had no idea the enemy had figured out Sailor Moon's identity already. The seven of us jumped in front of Sailor Moon, shielding her from the assailant. Before any of us could attack, a blast from Lead Crow sent all of us flying. Whatever power she possessed, she was able to render all of us useless in one single blow. Sailor Moon stood alone.

"Now that the interruptions are out of the way, let's talk. This is a miniature black hole. It doesn't have enough energy to suck up the whole miserable world, but it can devour this school and a couple blocks surrounding. If you don't want all of them to die, then surrender your star seed."

"Don't! Sailor Moon!" Sailor Starfighter appeared and tried to jump in front of her, but she was held back by Sailor Healer and Sailor Maker. "If you give up your star seed, you will die!"

Sailor Moon closed her eyes and said, "I don't want any innocent people to die." Just like that, she spread her arms and was ready to sacrifice herself. We all watched in horror as the princess's star seed got extracted. The brilliant shine was like no others. It illuminated Sailor Moon for a while and then she de-transformed into Usagi.

"NO! NO! NO! Usagi? USAGI!" Sailor Starfighter shrieked, as she realized that Usagi was Sailormoon and that Usagi, the woman she loved was dying.

Lead Crow walked toward Usagi. Before she could grab the star seed, a blast of energy knocked her down, and the tube holding the black hole broke.

Evil laughter erupted from behind one of the trees. Sailor Tin Nyanko appeared. "Why thank you, Sailor Lead Crow, for doing all the hard work. The research. The extracting. Now it's time for you to die. Don't worry, I will take the star seed to Galaxia-sama."

What followed happened in less than a minute. For us, it felt like an eternity. Sailor Lead Crow was the first to be swallowed in into the black hole. As it expanded, Usagi, along with her star seed, was sucked in next. We couldn't get to her in time. Then, Chibi Chibi appeared out of nowhere. She ran up to Sailor Tin Nyanko and said "No" before jumping into the black hole.

All of us, the scouts and the Sailor Starlights, stared hopelessly as the black hole continued to expand. The ground started to crack under the pressure. Severely hurt, Sailor Mercury tried to stand up and her goggle was down. She was scanning the black hole, hoping to find a way to save our princess and save the school. When we saw her collapse to her knees, we knew it was too late. If our smartest scout couldn't figure a way out of this, and all of our attacks were useless against a black hole...

 _Boom!_ A bright light exploded from within and the black hole was blown up. Chibi Chibi was transformed into Sailor Chibi Chibi. She was holding up an incense burner and great power was radiating out of it. Usagi, along with her star seed was floating in mid air. Another lady was holding her and gently descended back to the ground.

"Princess!" The Sailor Starlights said in unison, before kneeling down and bow to their superior.

Usagi woke and looked at the woman with red, fiery hair. "So, you are the lady they have been searching for all this time. I am glad."

"I am Princess Kakyuu. Sailor Starlights and I are from the planet Kinmoku. Sailor Moon, I think it is time we talk…"


	26. Sailor Wars

Chapter 26-Sailor Wars

Princess Kakyuu, the one the Sailor Starlights had been searching for, finally showed herself. She was beautiful and majestic, and incredibly powerful. I could sense the energy within her.

"I am sorry to have worried you, but I have a mission of my own," She apologized to her people. She then turned to Usagi. "Sailor Moon, I was watching you for some time through that burner. Let me tell you a story of the Holy War from a long time ago that engulfed the galaxy. The Sailor Wars. Sailor Soldiers are born of stars and planets. They've been fighting since the creation of the galaxy against those who infringe on peace. Until at last, the origin of evil throughout the galaxy, Chaos, was defeated and sealed by the legendary strongest soldier. However, after a long time, Chaos appeared again in the galaxy. She called herself Sailor Galaxia. She is trying to steal all the star seeds and bring the whole galaxy back to chaos. The only way is to find the Light of Hope that the legendary soldier left. "

"Fighter, Healer, Maker, that's why I left home after I was severely wounded by Galaxia. I followed the Light of Hope through the galaxy and that's when I found Earth. Galaxia was still looking for me so I decided to hide inside the burner. Chibi Chibi picked it up one day and I was protected by her since."

The scouts and I stood in silence. Chaos! Our enemy's true identity. The first evil in the universe is here on Earth. Usagi spoke up, "Where is the light of hope? What is the light of hope?" The other princess shook her head, "I haven't found it yet. All I know is, it landed on Earth."

Princess Kakyuu approached Usagi and clasp her hands around Usagi's. "If we can't find it, we can't seal Chaos. Please, Sailor Moon, I need your help. Together, let's find the Light of Hope."

Before Usagi could say yes, Uranus spoke up. "What you are asking is selfish. If anything, it was you that brought the evil here. If your princess didn't escape, if you guys didn't abandon your duty and ran, Galaxia wouldn't have found Earth. " I understood why they did what they did, but I couldn't help but agree with Haruka on this one.

The other princess smiled sadly. As she was turning to leave, she looked at Usagi one last time and said: "I believe in you." Seiya took one last look at Usagi and then she turned and followed her princess.

The sun was starting to set. Unaware of almost been swallowed by a black hole, the students were still happily celebrating inside the building. Their laughter was a dark contrast to what we were all feeling. A great sense of doom. We all walked back to the building. Usagi and the others still had to finish cleaning up once the festival was done. Haruka and I decided to stay. The enemy knew Usagi's real identity now. That was the scariest part.

"I am going to call Hotaru and let her know we won't be going home tonight," Haruka got out her communicator. I got up and bought more coffee from the "coffee shop". We were going to need that.

"I can stay with Hotaru at night if you like," Ami offered. She quickly figured out our plan. At this point, Usagi needed to be protected around the clock. "If you guys don't mind taking the night shifts. Tomorrow, Mako, Mina and I would protect Usagi during the school hours. Rei would join us after school." We all looked over at the lonely princess.

Usagi was sitting at a table and she was eating all the leftover cakes. Expressionless, she stuffed bite after bite into her mouth. Her eyes were blank and staring into space. Things had been escalating lately and our princess had suffered so much. I told the others to keep the night shifts a secret from Usagi. I didn't want her to feel guilty on top of that.

So that night, after we dropped off Usagi, we parked our car in the alleyway behind her house. The night was slightly chilly but the coffee kept us warm. Usagi went to bed around eleven am. Then the lights were turned back on at three am. The lonely princess woke and poke her head out the window. She looked up at the moon and her hands clasped in a prayer. After a long while, she closed the window again and turned off the lights. I sighed as I watched her. We knew Usagi would help the other princess. She would order us to stand down if she needed to. But in the end, it would be her that get hurt.

Just then, our communicators beeped. It was Setsuna. "Where are you guys? I am back."

We quickly filled her in on the situation. Setsuna was quiet when we finished. Then, her next line filled us with dread.

"The timeline has changed. I went to the future and Crystal Tokyo was different. Small Lady was erased from existence. That could only mean one thing. King Endymion, Mamoru, must be dead…."

How are we going to let Usagi know? After all this?

"I just contacted Ami. She was able to pull the manifest from the flight. Records showed that Mamoru boarded the plane in Toyko, but there were no records of his landing. All passengers were accounted for except him. People from the flight had reported seeing weird lights during midflight before passing out. Then when they came to, they were landed safely. Someone, or something, managed to kidnap him midflight. What was also weird was, no one could remember seeing him. Ami tracked down the passenger that was supposed to be sitting next to Mamoru. He claimed the seat next to him was empty but he also said he didn't remember anything from the flight, besides the strange light. "

Mamoru's star seed must be the target from the beginning. He was the protector of Earth after all. This Small Lady Setsuna kept mentioning, the one we forgot, must be the future princess. "How are we going to tell Usagi that she just lost the love of her life and her child? Again?" Haruka hit the steering wheel hard and groaned in frustration.

The hours seemed to stretch until finally, morning came. We stayed until Mina and Rei showed up to walk Usagi to school. When we got home, Hotaru ran up to us and gave us each a plate of food. Funny shaped pancakes. "This one is Neptune. This one is Uranus. I already ate the Saturn one," Hotaru explained. I patted her on the head and I quickly turned away before she could see the tears in my eyes. Haruka was doing a better job at hiding her feelings than me. She picked up Hotaru and was doing the airplane routine with her, "flying" her around the living room while making engine noises. "Papa put me down. I am not three anymore. I am a big girl now." She used to enjoy this when she was younger. I missed those times.

We ate the pancakes and we drank a tall glass of milk each. Imitating me, Hotaru instructed me to finish all my food and then brush my teeth. When we retired to bed, Hotaru came in and tucked us in. When she closed the door, I pulled the blanket over my head and tried to stifle my sobs. Haruka squeezed my hands. I cried myself to sleep, worrying that the end of the world meant sacrificing my daughter once again. If everything else failed, Sailor Saturn would have to do her duty and killed the enemy before the entire Galaxy was ruined. She would have to die. As Sailor Senshi, we were all prepared to die each time we walked into a battle. As a mother, I wished my daughter would live on….


	27. Galaxia Descends

Chapter 27-Galaxia Descends

 _Beep. Beep._ Our communicators flashed, waking Haruka and me from our deep slumber. "We are under attack. We are at the Three Lights concert." Fierce battle sounds were heard in the background. We got up and ran out the house. Hotaru was so used to us running out of the house at a moments notice, she waved to us without looking away from the television.

We raced through the busy streets of Tokyo and headed straight to the concert hall. Sailor Tin Nyanko was fiercely attacking while the Starlights protected their princess and the scouts protected Sailor Moon. "Deep Submerge!" I fired a shot and hit the evil Sailor in the back. "Now, Sailor Moon!"

"Crystal Power Kiss!" Sailor Moon sent out her attack. Sailor Tin Nyanko screamed but she managed to free herself from the attack. One of her bracelets broke and her black fuku turned half white.

Sailor Tin Nyanko stopped her assaults and she looked dazed. "Don't be controlled by Galaxia. Don't be controlled by Galaxia." She said over and over. Then her face turned back to hatred, "I will take your star seed now for Galaxia-sama." "No, Stop!"The hand free of the bracelet grabbed her other hand and stopped it from firing shots.

"She's being controlled by Galaxia's bracelets. She used to be a good Sailor Soldier!" Princess KaKyuu explained. We all gasped in surprise. That meant all the previous ones were good once too. Sailor Iron Mouse, Sailor Aluminum Siren and Sailor Lead Crow.

"Wait, we will heal her back to normal!" Rei said as she noticed the Sailor Starlights getting ready for a kill shot.

"She is our enemy. She helped Galaxia destroyed our planet. Get out of our way." Sailor Healer yelled.

"Stop it. It is not good for us to have those feelings." Princess KaKyuu stepped in. "They were sailor Senshi once, just like us."

"That's right, we should work together!" Sailor Moon said while looking at Uranus and me. She took our her Holy Moon Calice, ready to heal the evil Sailors once and for all.

Just then, darkness appeared in the sky and quickly swallowed the entire world. Dark thunders rained down on Earth, as people scattered and fled. Screams of pain and terror were heard everywhere.

Sailor Galaxia had arrived. She descended from the dark heaven, wearing a gold armor from head to toe. Without a word, she raised her hand and took the remaining bracelet from Sailor Tin Nyanko. The Sailor screamed out in pain as she disintegrated. Just like that, the soldier was executed.

Galaxia slowly scanned the crowd of sailors in front of her. She stopped when she saw Princess Kakyuu. "You are the one that has been trying to wake the power to confront me. DIE!" She sent out a giant energy ball and Princess went flying. Sailor Starlights leapt up and caught the princess.

Galaxia continued her assault without a pause. She sent out a lot more attacks and they flew randomly around the stage. We started dodging. Sailor Jupiter grabbed Sailor Moon and started running. Just then, Princess Kakyuu stood up and sent out a blast of energy, effectively creating a barrier protecting all of us. She turned to say to all of us, "You don't have enough power to defeat Galaxia right now. I'll hold her here, so go now!"

The Starlights protested and refused to run away. Sailor Moon struggled free from Jupiter's grip and started running back towards the princess. With a smirk on her face, Galaxia increased her power and shattered the princess's barrier. The energy hit the princess squarely in the chest and her star seed was extracted.

"SILVER MOON CRYSTAL POWER KISS!" A very angry Sailor Moon yelled out her attack and put all of her energy on the shot.

Galaxia smiled and simply waved the attack away. She sneered and said, "Next time, I will take all of your star seeds. Your resistance is futile. I will rule the Galaxy no matter what. You might as well say goodbye to your families now."

Princess Kakyuu's body hit the ground with a thud. The starlights rushed over, even though there was nothing they could do now. Before princess's body disintegrated, she turned and said to the starlights, "Believe in them. Help them save their planet. Protect Sailor Moon." Her body started to shimmer and was then reduced to nothing but stardust.

Then, the big screen on the stadium flickered on. "This is an emergency broadcast. This is an emergency broadcast. Evacuate the city if you can." Behind the reporter, the images were horrid. Dark thunders were still showering down, hitting and disintegrating buildings in random. People that were hit by the thunders were dissolved, instantly.

The screen flickered again and Galaxia's face appeared on the emergency broadcast channel. "You insects nested on this rural planet! The whole galaxy is mine. I won't allow the existence of ugly creatures like you. Prepare yourselves. This is the end of human race."

"No, this can't be happening again." Sailor Star Fighter clenched her fists in fury. "This happened on our planet, right before she destroyed it all."

Sailor Mercury pulled out her computer and started to zero in on the broadcasting signal. "This is worldwide. Galaxia must have increased the signal and it is been broadcasted everywhere in the world. Hold on, let me zero in on the source…"

I reached for Sailor Uranus's hand unconsciously. This was it. I was glad Setsuna was home with Hotaru right now. At least, she wasn't alone when the apocalypse hit. They were probably transforming and on their way here now.

"Found it. The signal is coming from Galaxy TV. It is at the other end of the city."

The Sailor Starlights turned and started to leave. "Where are you guys going?" I asked them as I sensed a wave of hatred and vengeance. "If you walk in the front door now, you will die miserably."

"When we found the princess, we had hope that she could restore our planet. Now that she is dead, we are the last of our kind. Hope is now lost, there is no reason to live. We have to strike a blow against Galaxia, for our princess." Sailor Maker said.

Sailor Moon ran up to them and begged them to reconsider. "Your princess wouldn't want you to."

"I am sorry. We have to avenge our princess." Seiya said. She looked at Usagi with love and regret. "I wished we had met sooner. I wished we had met under different circumstances." Seiya then turned and addressed the rest of us, "Protect your princess."

We watched as the Sailor Starlights marched to their death.

We all retreated back to Rei's temple. Setsuna and Hotaru were there waiting for us already. With the gravity of the situation, we didn't have a lot of time to come up with a plan. While the scouts debated on what to do, Haruka grabbed my hand and said to the others, "We need a moment alone."

I sensed Haruka's intention right away. We were going to the headquarters. We would be the first line of defense again. I leaned on the sky soldier as we walked away.

"Is it okay not to say goodbye to Hotaru and Setsuna?" I asked. Haruka nodded. She beamed her handsome smile at me and said, "who's to say we won't see them again? As long as you are with me, I am okay."

So we walked, hand in hand, towards Galaxy TV. It would be our last stroll through the city as Michiru and Haruka. Just then, two figures walked out from the alleyway and stood in front of us. It was Setsuna and Hotaru.

"We are going with you. As soldiers of the outer solar system, we will protect Earth from this crisis. Out of the four of us, at least, one of us will survive and defeat Galaxia." Hotaru said. I held out my hand and hold on to Hotaru.

At least, if this was the end, we would die together. No one would ever be alone again.


	28. The Betrayal

Chapter 28-The Betrayal

People have always talked about their defining moments. Moments that made them who they were. Moments that made them good or evil. Mine was when I picked up the Neptune transformation pen. That was when I had enough power to save people, but also to kill. Blood had soiled my hands long before I met Haruka and long before the Silence battle. There were many regrets and years of guilt to get over.

That night, as the outer Senshi marched to Galaxia's headquarters, I thought of my parents. I remembered my mom teaching me how to play the violin. I remembered my father teaching me how to paint. I wished I was young and innocent again, just so that I could run into their embraces.

Then I thought of the family I built. Haruka and Hotaru. They had filled the hole in my heart and made me believe in love again. Sailor Neptune was slowly erasing my identity but they made me Michiru again. Life wasn't just about fighting evil. Life was waking up next to your partner. Life was holding your child in your arms. Life was making and collecting little happy moments.

Thunder continued to roar as we walked. While people were running away from the source of the evil, the four of us walked toward it. Finally, we reached our destination.

The building was surrounded by an energy field. Sailor Pluto was able to use her Garnet orb to create an opening, allowing all of us to walked in safely. When we entered, the dark hallways were thick with evil. The building seemed empty and hollow.

We came across the broadcast room. Most of the screens were static except one. Galaxia sat on a gold throne and she was torturing the Starlights. She sent out weaker attacks and was laughing with joy as she watched the sailors suffered. Seiya and the others were flung around like bugs. Their counter attacks were getting weaker and weaker.

Just then, a red glowing orb appeared. When it dissipated, it was Sailor Chibi Chibi moon and the rest of the scouts. They got to the room before us.

I was about to race to them when Sailor Pluto grabbed my hand and stopped me. "We can't all show up at once. Right now they have become the first line of defense. We need to fall back and be the second line, in case…" She looked down, unable to finish her sentence.

I turned my attention back to the screen. If we were to be the second line, then we need to learn more about Galaxia.

Then we watched in horror as the next scene unfolded. Galaxia was getting tired of just talking to Sailor Moon. She powered up and sent out multiple attacks, straight toward the princess. Without a moment of hesitation, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus jumped in front of Sailor Moon and used their bodies as shields. Four brilliant star seeds were ripped out and the scouts were no more. Their fight was over.

Gloating, Galaxia showed Sailor Moon all of the star seeds she had collected. Sailor Pluto gasped as she recognized one of them. "The golden star seed! King Endymion!" So just like we speculated, Mamoru was killed by her. I clenched my fists, as I felt my fury gaining momentum. Let the ocean be angry. Let the destructive waves come. I needed the power.

All of a sudden, the same red orb appeared and Sailor Moon and the Starlights disappeared. "They are still in the building. Follow me." I pulled out my mirror and started running. Sailor Moon was all alone now. We need to save her.

We found them in an abandoned office. Exhausted, Sailor Chibi Chibi Moon was sleeping on the floor. Sailor Moon and the starlights were passed out.

"Was I dreaming?" Sailor Moon woke and she looked around the room in confusion. We all looked down, unable to meet her sorrowful eyes. "It was all a dream, right? Mamo-chan is not dead. My friends are not dead. Right?" She started shaking uncontrollably as she realized it wasn't a dream. The reality hit her like a tsunami and drowned her hope.

"Sailor Neptune, let's go!" Uranus turned and left the room. I watched as Uranus started punching the wall in the hallway. I put my arms around her and rested my head on her back.

"There has to be a way! She must have a weakness. We just have to find it." I said as I continued to hold her tightly.

"Michiru. I love you." Haruka turned and held my face in her hands.

"That sounded like a goodbye. It's too soon." I teased. "Haruka, I love you too." I ran my hand through her blonde hair and pulled her in for one last kiss. The world was burning but I needed one second. One second of pure bliss, so that we would have the courage to walk through the fire of hell.

"Deep Submerge!" I called upon the stormy sea and sent out my fury along with the waves. Galaxia waved it aside with a smirk on her face.

Uranus ran straight toward her with her space sword. Galaxia stopped it with one hand. She held on to the sword and squeezed. The sword cracked and broke.

"The sword must be becoming dull." Uranus couldn't help but joke inappropriately. This was our routine. Joking and laughing while staring Death in the face.

"Are you blaming your sword?" I teased back.

"I don't think I've lost my edge." Uranus winked. I rolled my eyes at the sky soldier.

Just then, Galaxia fired two more shots at us. We were getting ready to counter attack when we heard a familiar voice yelled "Silent Wall". Our daughter had just entered the war room.

"I am Sailor Saturn, soldier of destruction and rebirth. Sailor Galaxia, leave this planet right now! Otherwise, we will destroy you." Saturn swung her Silent Glave and pointed it at the enemy. Sailor Pluto stood behind her and swung her Garnet Orb.

Pluto looked at Uranus and then nodded. "Dead Scream." "World shaking!" They both yelled out their attacks and combined their powers. A giant energy ball hurled straight at Galaxia. _Poof!_ Galaxia deflected the attack easily.

Then my heart broke when I saw Saturns' expression changed. She swung her Glave and said, "in that case, I will erase you from the solar system by sacrificing myself."

Evil laughter erupted from Galaxia. "I woke you up early so you could mature in time. It was me that broke Nehelenia's seal and sent her vengeance straight to you. Knowing you would wake in order to protect your precious princess, I wanted you to mature quickly. Now that you are of age, I can collect your star seed." Galaxia held up her bracelets. "Do you really think you can defeat me?"

A moment of hesitation from Saturn was all she needed. Galaxia shot out four attacks, knocking all of us to the ground. Saturn's Glave and Pluto's Garnet Orb lay broken next to the already broken space sword.

"Galaxia is too powerful. She was strong enough to control the entire galaxy." Uranus commented. I frowned at the odd comment from her. The tone of her voice almost sounded like a compliment.

"After I take your star seed, you will disappear completely." Galaxia laughed. "But there is another way…" She paused and looked at Uranus.

"I am glad to hear it," said Uranus.

Puzzled, I look at Uranus. What was she doing? Uranus was flashing her handsome smile back at Galaxia. Was she flirting? Unbelievable.

"Work for me. Surrender your star seeds and swear faith to me. If you wear these bracelets, you will accept my power and you can live without your star seed. Now choose, surrender or die?" Galaxia said to us but she was staring only at Uranus.

"Sounds interesting. If I wear those bracelets, I can live, right?" Uranus asked.

That was when I realized Uranus's plan. The bracelets were the source of Galaxia's power. If we surrender, we would have access to her power. Also, Galaxia was a Sailor too. She was born of stars and planets too.

Uranus turned and looked at me. "If I can be with you, I won't hesitate to sell my soul to the devil." Her eyes were trying hard not to look at Pluto and Saturn. They were looking at her with disbelief and anger.

I looked at Pluto and Saturn and then I said a silent sorry to the rest of my family. I looked back at Uranus and smiled. We both stood up and faced Galaxia. Our arms were down, showing our compliance.

"Did you forget our mission? To protect Earth and the princess?" Saturn looked at us with her sad purple eyes. Shocked and hurt, Saturn tried to grabbed Uranus's hand. That was her last effort to save her parents.

"Shut Up!" Uranus yelled and flung Saturn's hand away. Haruka-papa, who was always gentle with Hotaru, just yelled at her for the first time. In the most painful way imaginable. I looked away, unable to bear the look on Hotaru's face.

So we walked up to Galaxia and spread our arms. We surrendered, like cowards, in front of our daughter. I turned to my lover and I was momentarily comforted by the fact that even in death, we would be together.

Uranus turned and winked at me. "See you in hell, my love."

When the energy balls hit my chest, the pain was indescribable. A burning sensation that spread and escalated in seconds. It felt like all the energy from each and every one of my molecules were sucked dry. Then our arms shot up involuntarily and Galaxia's bracelets clasped on. Like cattle, we were branded. Galaxia's power flooded through our bodies and evil coursed through our blood. Hatred and thirst for vengeance roared inside me.

"Now, your first job is to collect the star seeds from Pluto and Saturn." Galaxia sat back and watched. She watched us like it was no more than a show.

Uranus and I looked at each other and shared a knowing look. The moment we failed to defeat Galaxia with our powers was the moment we failed to protect our family. Now, we had to kill Pluto and Saturn in order to carry on with our mission. "The mission is what matters." I silently said to myself, preparing myself for what I was about to do.

Hotaru, my baby girl. She stared at us, silently calling out "mama, papa." We were her whole world and now we would end it. There was no return at this point. I felt her pain as I watched her star seed got ripped out. The sea wailed and wept, as I watched Pluto and Saturn disappeared.

"You were always a killer. You killed your first girlfriend. You killed your parents and all the people on that cruise. You were willing to kill Hotaru the first time and now, you have finally killed her. That was your defining moment. Sailor Neptune the murderer. Don't resist. This is who you are. Galaxia's power is great and she will make you invincible. Accept the power." Evil thoughts drilled through my skull.

As the evil started to invade my mind, I kept my thoughts on Hotaru. In the far corner of my mind, I saw myself holding baby Hotaru, singing to her as I rocked her gently to sleep. I saw her first step. I remembered the first time she called me mama.

Galaxia would never see this coming. It was ironic really. By asking us to kill our own daughter had helped us resist the mind control. Our love for Hotaru was our own light of hope. That tiny flickering light amidst the evil darkness….


	29. Hell's Fire

Chapter 29-Hell's Fire

Sailor Moon and the starlights ran into the room, just in time to witness Setsuna and Hotaru fading away. She screamed in agony as she watched. I hold on to that scream and allowed it to fuel the fury inside of me. My mind was clear.

Sailor Moon turned toward Galaxia and was shocked to see Uranus and I standing beside the throne. "No, no!" The princess shook her head slowly, unable to believe her eyes. "Why, why are you doing this? Neptune? Uranus? I thought we are friends."

I allowed the evil part of me to speak. "Then I will take your star seed before you feel any pain. Because we are friends."

Sailor Moon looked at us with her sympathetic eyes. "I believe in you." Even now, knowing what we just did, Princess still believed in us. I smiled inside and I felt new courage. This was why we did what we did. For her, we would do anything. For she was the only one that could heal this world when it was all over. I lamented the fact that she would have to do this all alone now.

Uranus raised her bracelets, getting ready to attack. Surprisingly, Galaxia ordered us to wait. She narrowed her eyes and said to Sailor Moon, "Why do you still believe? They just killed two of their own soldiers." She then turned to us and said, "Neptune, Uranus, don't kill her yet. Toy with her, we will see how she believes after this."

"World shaking!" An unusually powerful attack came from Uranus. The bracelet had increased the power exponentially. Star fighter tried to counter attack but it was useless. The energy ball hurled toward the four of them. The floor gave away and they fell through. "Good aim, Haruka." I thought silently, as I noticed she hit the floor on purpose.

We jumped through the hole and continued to chase them. Painful as it was, we had to make Galaxia believe. Each time we attack, I felt like dying. We also had to make sure that the Starlights would continue to protect our princess. When our time came, we need to know they would look out for Usagi.

I said coldly to the starlights, "Do you think you can beat Galaxia if you can't beat us?" Uranus joined in on the taunting, "You guys are so weak. That's why you can't protect your princess."

That sentence drove through Star fighter's heart like a sword. Angered, Star fighter ran straight at Uranus. The fight had become personal. I watched as Uranus dodging Seiya's punches with a smirk on her face. The arrogant face must have driven Seiya mad, as she increased her power and intensity of her punches. Finally, she landed a solid punch in Uranus's stomach. Uranus smiled. "You can do alright," She whispered to Seiya.

Uranus leapt away and landed beside me. We gave each other a knowing look. "World shaking!" "Deep submerge!" We combined our attacks and carefully aimed it at the ground near the soldiers. The explosion rocked the building, collapsing some more floors. The soldiers once again plunged through. I sighed in relief when I saw Star fighter grabbing Sailor Moon and used her own body to shield our attacks.

We followed them as they landed several floors below. Galaxia appeared behind us, laughing. She had been enjoying the show. "Do you still believe, Sailor Moon? Look at your friends attacking you, torturing you. I will snuff out your light. Take their star seeds now, Neptune and Uranus."

All the pain and suffering, this was it.

We raised our bracelets and stood facing Sailor Moon. I cleared my mind and I focused on the people that had fallen in this war. Ami, Makoto, Rei, Minako, the future princess, Mamoru, Setsuna and Hotaru. "Lend me your powers," I silently said.

"NOW" Uranus shoot me a glance and said to me silently.

We turned and faced Galaxia, sending out four shots from the bracelets. The energy hit Galaxia directly and she screamed out in pain.

Time seemed to stop for the next three seconds. The shot from the bracelet had encased Galaxia in a light tunnel. The energy continued to rip through her as it tried to extract the star seed. Uranus and I watched, hoping that this would be it. This would be the end and Sailor Moon could rebuild the world.

That moment of hope sizzled away when Galaxia laughed. There was no star seed inside her. We couldn't kill her. I sunk to my knees, defeated. That was our only way. All the sacrifices were futile.

Galaxia continued to gloat. "You betrayed your people and pretended to be my soldiers, all the while looking for an opening? Well, I am impressed. No one has ever resisted my mind control before. You are strong soldiers. What a waste…" She waved her hand and recalled our bracelets.

The power drained from our bodies quickly. This was the end.

"We no longer have the wings to fly freely in the blue sky. We've dirtied our hands with the blood of betrayal." Haruka lamented.

I turned and said to my love, "I can endure anything if I am with you, even being burned by the fires of hell." Then I turned and apologize to my princess. Usagi was sobbing, utterly heartbroken. "I am sorry, I didn't believe in you. I doubted you. Why did you do this?"

Oh, princess. This was our way. This was the cross we bear as soldiers. I had no regrets. At no matter the cost, Sailor Moon must live. We gladly jumped into the fires of Hell if that was what it took.

Uranus looked at Seiya and the rest of the starlights. "Please protect our princess. Sometimes she is a crybaby, but please believe in her."

"Are you scared, Michiru?" Haruka looked at me. She was starting to shimmer, slowly disappearing. I reached over. Our hands touched for the last time.

A weird sense of peace washed over me. It had been a long, exhausting journey. No more pain now. No more suffering. For some reason, I was certain that without our star seeds, our souls could not return to the planets. This was truly the end.

I looked at Haruka and smiled. She looked peaceful. I closed my eyes, feeling myself disappearing.


	30. New Beginning

Chapter 30-New Beginning

"Everyone, I am lonely. I can't do this without you guys." Usagi's voice woke me. I felt a warm light washed over me and I was alive.

All of us stood around Usagi. I turned and saw Haruka and Hotaru. We were all back. The war had ended. The sun was shining brightly through a clear blue sky. However, the city laid in ruin, remnants of fire and smoke still visible on the horizon. Corpses laid around the streets. Survivors wandering around, injured and broken.

"I healed Sailor Galaxia but I used up all my energy. Please help me, everyone. Lend me your powers and let us heal the rest of the world." Sailor Moon spread her majestic wings and soared into the sky. We sent our powers into the silver crystal. The warm light spread and illuminated the entire world. Everyone on Earth got a new beginning…

The world changed after the Galaxia battle. This time, people remembered the invasion. This time, they remembered the Sailor Scouts saving the world. Sailor Moon became their instant Messiah.

Sailor Chibi Chibi Moon turned out to be the Light of Hope. She was the star seed of Sailor Galaxia. When Galaxia sealed Chaos inside of her centuries ago, her mind and body were slowly being corrupted by the evil. In her last desperate move, she extracted her own star seed and sent it out to the galaxy. The star seed found Sailor Moon, the most powerful soldier on Earth. She made herself out of the image of the princess and became Chibi Chibi.

By combining Chibi Chibi's power and Sailor Moon's silver crystal, Sailor moon was able to heal Galaxia and burnt the chaos out of her body. Chaos was sent back into everyone's minds, as it was supposed to be. Sailor Moon also sent in the Light of Hope to all the people. Humanity was never the same again.

Occasionally, we still had to fight some random monsters. Dark forces would always exist. We would strike back every single time. As for the scout family, life continued on.

Ami and Mako finally made their relationship public. "Obviously!"Haruka rolled her eyes so hard when they called a sailor meeting for the announcement. "Do we have to go? Maybe we can skip it and go have some fun on our own?" Haruka winked and used her puppy eyes. "I have never been to a coming-out sailor meeting before. I want to go." I used my puppy eyes on her and she caved.

We were the last ones to arrive at Ami's apartment. Hotaru happily plumped down on the seat beside Chibiusa's. Ami sat awkwardly in the middle of a couch, sandwiched between a very happy Minako and a nervous Mako.

"So, we have some big news to share with you guys." Mina's loud cheery voice rang through the room. "Rei? Honey? Do you want to do the honor?"

Rei sighed and muttered, "why do you always make everything so dramatic?"

Mina's unbearable loud laughter caused all of us to lose our hearings for about a second. "Okay, Okay. So everyone, Rei and I are together. Together like Haruka and Michiru together together."

"What do you mean?" Usagi asked.

"Rei is papa, Mina is mama." Hotaru explained. We all snickered as we watched Usagi getting more confused.

Mina continued on with her dramatic expose. "And….drum rolls please….." She started drumming on the table with her fingers. "We found Mako and Ami kissing the other day!" Mina gave Ami a shove as she announced it, causing Ami to squish against Mako.

"I still don't get….oh wait! You guys kissed?" Finally, the lightbulb went off in Usagi's head as she connected the dots. "Rei and Mina? Ami and Mako? So Rei is papa, Mina is mama. Ami is papa and Mako is mama. I seeeeee…" Usagi nodded and slowly chewed the cake that was in her mouth.

The four scouts looked at Usagi and waited anxiously to see her reaction. Usagi looked back at them with her warm eyes and she smiled. She got up and hugged them. "I am so glad. Now we can stay together forever."

"Now, my turn," Usagi said as she disengaged from the group hug. "The government has asked me to officially move in into the crystal palace they built for us next month. The place is gorgeous and I am the boss of it. So, I told them Mamoru and I will get married there. By the way, doesn't the crystal palace look like my silver crystal? It's pretty cool right?"

"Idiot. That's why they called it Crystal palace." Chibiusa sighed. Haruka and I excused ourselves before they erupt into their usual five-minute yelling match.

On the balcony, we could see the construction site of the Crystal Palace. It would be finished by the time of the wedding. With the reflection of the moon visible on the glass building and the building was illuminated by moonlight, the palace shone brightly in the middle of the city. Haruka put her arms around me and pulled me closer. "Pick a place." She said.

"What?"

"Pick a place. Just pick one, off the top of your head." Haruka had a mischievous smile on her face.

"On top of a mountain, where I can touch the sky and see the ocean." I closed my eyes and imagined how pretty it would be.

"Okay…" Haruka said.

She didn't explain why she asked that weird question that night.

A month later, Haruka surprised me with two tickets to Hawaii. On top of the tickets was a diamond ring. The sky soldier appeared in her sailor uniform. "Haruka, what?" I was confused about her transformation.

"Will you marry me, Kaoih Michiru? I, Tenou Haruka, will love you and cherish you for as long as I live. I, Sailor Uranus will protect you until the end of time."

I knelt down in front of Uranus. "Yes, Tenou Haruka, my sky soldier."

Slowly, the world entered into a new era of peace. Ruled by Queen Serenity, Sailor Moon, world peace among humans became possible. When she healed the world with her crystal, her purity and love became part of everyone.

When the crystal healed the human race, we all changed. At first, no one noticed. Life carried on as it was. Then people started noticing that they were aging slower. People could still die from accidents and illnesses, but they could live a lot longer now. As for us soldiers, we have essentially achieved immortality.

Crystal Palace became our new headquarters. We, as Sailor senshi continued to defend Earth against any foreign intruders, from both present and future times. So far, we were able to conquer all of our enemies. Earth continued to be the most peaceful planet in the galaxy. Guarded and protect by us, the world flourished.

It had been a long journey since my awakening as a sailor soldier. I lost my old family but along the way, I found my new family. Life was difficult and sad at times but I was glad to have met all of the sailor soldiers.

My name is Kaioh Michiru. I am a musician. I am a painter. I am a friend. I am a lover. I am a wife. I am a mother. I am Sailor Neptune.

~The End~

 _A.N._

 _I would like to dedicate this story to my real life Haruka (she is also an author here on Fanfiction—The Drifter). Thank you for being my beta reader._

 _I am in the process of writing a new story, which is a continuation of this one. It will be set two years after the Galaxia Battle. So, stay tuned._

 _Thank you to all my readers out there. This had been a fun journey._


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